


THE DOOM: northward bound

by MathiasHyde



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-06-01 00:34:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6493912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MathiasHyde/pseuds/MathiasHyde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Atobe invades Rikkai, General Tezuka from Seigaku offers his aid in defending the country and pushing the Ice King back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The change was imperceptible at first; the morning frosts that still formed even as the blush of new spring spread throughout the lower part of the country, well past when it should have left. But even as the villagers recognised the oddity in the weather, they said it was to be expected, a consequence of living so far north, so close to the borders of Hyotei that remained gripped in winter all year round.

And as the frosts finally vanished to give way to spring and summer, it was easy to ignore such a long-lasting cold. A one year off phenomena, they said.

Less easy to ignore was the next year, when the lasting cold was followed by the fingers of ice, that reached out and snatched at night. That stole away the warmth and breath of the villages, leaving them to be found cold and unbreathing when the day finally rose.

It was a slow approach, the invasion into Rikkai. Spread over months that turned into years, where the winters grew longer, until it never left the north entirely. Soon the cold penetrated the summer, and it never ended.

And as their northern neighbours moved south to escape the unending winter, so too did the fingers of ice and snow, following them down and bringing the morning frosts that formed earlier than ever before and the river that froze over for the first time in living memory.

And as the northern men came down, so too did the whispers and rumours.

Atobe was driving his forces south. And on the lips of the King of the frozen tundra of Hyotei, was but a single name - _Tezuka_.

–

“Jackal's latest report arrived,” Sanada said as he walked into the room, barely noticing the squires that closed the door behind him. They were required to be akin to deaf and blind to all but direct commands when serving in the private rooms of the King.

He gave a perfunctory salute of his hand over his chest before he continued talking. “There was another attempt through the pass, but the outer wall held. They're getting more bold.”

There was no reply for a long time, King Yukimura staring out the window at the shine of the afternoon sun upon the lake and the flowers in his private garden. He was young, perhaps younger so than his iron hold upon his seat over power and country might suggest to outsiders. But to Sanada's eye, he looked older than ever as he looked at the late-blooming flowers.

“It's early summer as well,” the man said finally, frowning.

They could both feel the slight chill to the room that had lingered well past its time and required an extra blanket thrown over at night. They were far away from where they knew Atobe's forces had come to a grinding halt at the first wall that guarded the pass down from the northern stretches of Rikkai, but Atobe's icy reach still worryingly extended this far down.

“Seiichi.”

Yukimura turned to glance at him, raising his eyebrows slightly in question.

There was no need for formalities in the private room between them, even as Sanada still stood. “We could contact Shitenhouji; they still owe us a life debt for saving that red haired child of theirs. That could be traded for a sorcerer to strengthen our borders again.”

His suggestion was met with a narrowing of eyes and Yukimura turned away again, a firm line to his mouth that gave Sanada all the answer he needed.

“I am not indebting myself to Shiraishi,” Yukimura said and Sanada could see the tensing of his shoulders that belied the calmness of his voice. “Masaharu is still our country's sorcerer. He's just...”

“A deserter.”

“He's still alive. He's going to come back.”

Sanada exhaled impatiently. “Our northern defences crumbled because of him running away.”

He didn't miss the tension in the air between them as they argued over their flighty sorcerer once again. Nor did he miss the expression on Yukimura's face as he seemed to wave away his comments. He was far too lenient on Niou and always had been and Sanada couldn't help the bitterness that arose at it.

Yukimura rose, moving over to the central table in his room where he had a selection of maps weighted down on the top. Without even thinking about it, Sanada moved the markers slightly around the dark stretch that indicated the sprawling mountains and the narrow passage of the northern pass guarded by their wall and fort, as per Jackal's latest update.

The only way through the mountains.

It wasn't until Sanada finished and withdrew his hand that Yukimura spoke.

“Get Renji here, I want his opinion.” Yukimura stared at the little flags dotted around the map, his gaze lingering into the stretch of land beyond the mountains, which remained all but lost to them at this current time, trapped in an endless thrall of winter.

Sanada nodded and moved to the door, opening it and startling the squire standing outside. He moved immediately to stand to attention and as Sanada looked at his curly head, he had a feeling the young man wasn't even daring to breathe.

“Fetch Advisor Yanagi immediately. He should be in the central library.” 

The young man ran off with a salute that Sanada made a note to himself to berate him for over its form when he had the chance. But at the pace he was heading off, at least it shouldn't take too long for Yanagi to arrive.

His gaze lingered on the light charcoal line drawn around their country, marking the now almost completely defunct magical defence line. The physical borders on the west and south had held up, mostly due to them facing stretches of water that extended well into the horizon. The east ran parallel to Shitenhouji which was growing slowly but had potential that he knew Yanagi was keeping an eye on.

“We could pull another two units off from our western defence company,” Yukimura said, gesturing. “The west will hold with minimal support for the time being. Our priority should be the northern threat.”

“It would still take weeks of hard travel for them to make their way to the northern pass,” Sanada said fairly, pointing out the likely journey that would take them through cities for resupplies. “I have a small command here, I can make my way north in half the time.”

“It's not enough men,” Yukimura said firmly. Although Yukimura didn't have direct command over their military, it didn't surprise Sanada at all that the man kept a running record of everything that was going on anyway instead of relying on him as his father had done with Sanada's own before them. “You'll make no difference.”

Perhaps once upon a time, Sanada would have taken insult at that comment, but there was no joking tone and sly smile with Yukimura's words, just a crease between his eyebrows as he looked down at the map.

“Let's wait for Renji to come. He might have some further insight.”

Yukimura finally glanced at him and then turned away to head towards his seat again. “He might.”

Sanada watched as Yukimura lifted the stopper from the crystal decanter on his side table, picking up a waiting glass to hold it out to him. “Shall we drink while we wait for him, then?”

–

While Yukimura reigned and kept a running knowledge of everything in the kingdom, and Sanada was known as the Warlord that had immediate control over the spread of armed forces throughout the country, it was Renji Yanagi who sat in the seat of power behind them both as Advisor.

He alone, save for perhaps Niou, kept the closest of eyes upon everything that happened in their country and used that to stand behind the other two.

But even he wasn't able to predict everything and sometimes unexpected things happened that managed to slip through his notice.

The small fleet of ships coming up through the channel to the east just days later took them all by surprise even as they got the first reports of it from the southern boundaries. The flags were blue, the bold stripes down it immediately recognised by all three of them as coming from Seigaku.

In the current state, it was tempting to strengthen their defences immediately in response, but it was too risky with their numbers too low and with majority of their strength focused in the north and unable to leave. 

“The dowager queen recently stepped down from her position. Seigaku's been pushing for growth since Nanjirou came into power. They're a country to watch in the next few years. Nanjirou is particularly pushing for a widening of their trade network – they've been negotiating with Higa and Fudoumine recently,” was Yanagi's assessment of the country.

“Their military?”

“Still small but expanding rapidly. They have a competent general. He was here briefly in his younger years,” Yanagi paused and Sanada didn't like the sly sideways look that the advisor gave him, his eyes narrow slits and his lips curled into a smile. “Kunimitsu Tezuka, remember him, Genichirou?”

Sanada's expression went blank. Yes, he did indeed remember Tezuka from the time he spent in Rikkai in their youth as a courtesy of the close friendship that had existed between Tezuka and Sanada's own grandfather's.

“He'd be a good general,” Sanada said, well aware of the way Yukimura was looking at him from across the table. He kept his gaze focused on the map of their country spread over the tabletop and to the channel where he knew Tezuka and his fleet of ships were. “Focused, strong leadership skills, an eye on the larger picture. He was very skilled with a blade when we were younger as well, I imagine he still is.”

“It sounds like you were very alike, Genichirou,” Yukimura said with an unreadable smile that Sanada frowned in response to.

“We were friends.”

Yukimura tapped his fingers on the armrests of his chair, looking at Sanada's face with as much intensity as he was the map. It was almost an oppressive silence between the three of them before Yukimura finally spoke.

“Then perhaps in respect of your old friendship, you should be the one to greet him at our shores and see what he wants.”

Sanada glanced up at Yukimura. It was a test, he realised, with the way Yukimura was smiling that to perhaps someone else might seem innocent enough, but to Sanada who had known him for far too long, made his shoulders tense and become too aware of the underlying threat.

“I'll trust you to make the appropriate call when the time comes.”

–

It wasn't often that Sanada doubted himself and his decisions, particularly in regards to fulfilling Yukimura's commands. They usually met on the same frequency, in which Sanada's on-the-run decisions coincided so well with Yukimura's vision for the bigger picture of Rikkai, whatever it may be.

But he also knew that his king and long time friend was extremely proud and reluctant to admit that they may need some help with blocking Hyotei's advance lest it overwhelm them. He placed too much faith in tradition, in what had once been coming back to them and perhaps Sanada was worried that he would let that overwhelm his thinking in keeping them adaptable and finding ways without them.

That being said, Yukimura wasn't remiss in his faith placed in Jackal and his ability to continue to stall Hyotei. It had been a very long time since anyone had breached the outer wall of the pass, and certainly not since Jackal had been posted to the north with his reputation as the Iron Defence of Rikkai. It seemed to be holding true, for now, but Sanada was well aware of the need for reinforcements, and soon.

He moved swiftly through the castle, his heavy footsteps loud enough upon the stone floors to alert anyone ahead of him that turned and moved out of his way.

It was a brave man that stopped him as he moved towards his own quarters with a hand on his arm.

“Leaving so soon, Warlord Sanada?”

It was Yagyuu, carrying a stack of notes in his arms that Sanada glanced at briefly before looking at his face. He was just thankful that he hadn't automatically reached to pull a knife at the first contact as he had been known to. Somehow he doubted Yukimura would be too pleased if he happened to stick a knife into the gut of his head healer.

“Where are you going?” Sanada asked, ignoring the question.

“The King asked me to attend to him. I also have news of Masaharu that he'd like to hear.”

That got Sanada's attention. “Has the deserter reappeared, then?”

Yagyuu's smile was bland as he looked at him. “Not at all. He just sent another of his messengers.” He gestured behind him, and Sanada only just noticed the fox that was hovering next to Yagyuu patiently. It was wispy, insubstantial, obviously made of magic. He could almost see the air moving around it as its tail moved from side to side. 

“He wanted to leave straight away, but Masaharu's messengers have always been easy to convince to stay around for a little while longer.”

Sanada wasn't quite sure how one convinced a fox made of magic to stay around, but he didn't argue with it. Perhaps it was a result of Yagyuu having spent most of his life around Niou and just knowing his style.

“What does he have to say for himself?”

He didn't like the rueful smile on Yagyuu's face or the way that he reached down to trail his fingers over the top of the fox's head.

“He said 'still not dead'.”

Sanada waited for a few moments, looking at Yagyuu expectantly for him to say what else Niou had sent... until the realisation set in that Niou had said nothing else.

What a fool Niou was.

Yagyuu seemed more concerned with petting the top of the fox's ears than its actual message and Sanada frowned at him for a moment before moving to stride off past him down the hallway again.

“Send his messenger back and tell him to take responsibility for his actions already,” he snapped.

But even as he said it, they both knew that each time Niou's fox messengers had come, even when they'd returned to their owner, they hadn't been able to be followed, simply melting into the air when they tried. Yagyuu had tried sending messages with them, but they had no way of knowing whether or not they listened to him and relayed them to Niou, even as they wound around his legs and rubbed their heads against his side as he stood there.

“He's coming back, Sanada,” Yagyuu said and even his quiet voice reached Sanada as clearly as though he was standing right next to him.

Sanada paused mid-stride. “He's done enough damage as it is.”

He heard some kind of murmured words behind him as Yagyuu spoke, but he kept walking and didn't look back.

–

It was a short ride from the capital on the lake where Yukimura spent his days, to the small walled town that guarded the natural inlet that was serving as a port for the incoming Seigaku ships. Sanada had brought a small company of men with him, but it was him alone that waited ahead by the shore and watched the first of the boats lower into the water and row towards them.

He could pick Tezuka immediately, even from a distance and there was a strange tension running through him not unlike that which occurred as one watched and waited for an approaching enemy to draw finally close enough to be able to do something.

Tezuka hopped out of the boat into the shallow water with well practiced ease and made his way to shore, holding his hand out to Sanada as he approached.

“Genichirou, brother,” he said, and Sanada could hear the warmth in his voice.

He looked the same as he ever had, though he filled his tunic out much better than he ever had when they were younger and his grip was firm as Sanada reached out to grasp his hand tightly.

“Kunimitsu. It's been a long time.”

He looked at the ships behind them in the inlet and the men lining the deck of the closest one. “Why are you here?”

“Atobe is using Rikkai as a pathway to get to Seigaku. Our grandfather's fought together when Yamabuki made moves out of their territory and we did in our past as well. I've come to do so again.”

Sanada stared at Tezuka's face and it was hard not to believe him from the level gaze and the hand that hadn't yet let go of his own.

“Tell me what you know about Atobe. I'll send a message to Yukimura and your men can disembark when he answers.”

He told himself that it was a logical choice to make, to accept the offer of help as it was extended to them. It had nothing to do with his own bias towards Tezuka and the trust he placed in someone he realised was still his friend and brother in arms.

Although, as he drew back from the waters edge with Tezuka in tow, he did have to acknowledge that it was easier to accept the offer for help from Tezuka than it would have been from anyone else. And somehow he had a feeling that Tezuka knew that all too well as well.

Even with the message sent immediately, it took over a day and a half for Yukimura to allow Tezuka's men to disembark from their ships and for Tezuka to move to the capital to meet with him.

But it wasn't long after that, that Sanada found himself back in Yukimura's private rooms, talking Tezuka through the boundaries of Rikkai.

“I brought along one of our country's sorcerer's to supplement your own to aid in the country's magical defences, but we weren't expecting there to be none.”

Tezuka sounded genuinely surprised and for that, Sanada was thankful. It meant that word hadn't travelled that their magical defences had all but crumbled and they were missing a key part of their country's core.

“Originally we had a circle of them, but it became tradition generations ago to have the sole collective defence centered around a single entity.” A foolish tradition now that he said it aloud. It should have been an obvious point of weakness, that none of them had ever picked up on until now.

“Masaharu's been the most powerful one in recorded history, everyone acknowledges that,” Yukimura said, leaning back in his seat and watching the two of them archly.

“He's also the most unreliable one we've had in recorded history,” Sanada said, well aware of how Yukimura's eyes narrowed at his statement, unimpressed.

“And no one knows the measures he's put in place?” Tezuka asked, sounding almost disbelieving.

“Yagyuu, our healer, knows probably the most of anyone, they've been friends for a long time. But his magic isn't compatible with Niou's own and he wasn't able to supplement the magical supply required to uphold the defences.”

“You were foolish,” he said bluntly.

Silence greeted his statement and Sanada noticed the tension in Yukimura's shoulders and neck even as he looked coolly at Tezuka across the table.

“Masaharu is missing, he's not dead. While he's alive, our barriers are still capable of being restored.”

“He's as good as dead to us, for all the damage he's done. And you have no way of knowing he really is still alive. Optimism can only do so much in a time like this.”

Yukimura's eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing. It was foolish to speak so bluntly to Yukimura, Sanada knew that, but it was easier to do so with Tezuka there. There was a definite increase in tension between them though, but Tezuka pushed it aside to press on.

“Atobe took advantage of this,” Tezuka said.

“Your country's border was probably the weakest entry point he located. Higa controls the north east seas and islands,” Tezuka gestured in a sweeping motion to the wider map to the side, “Under normal circumstances, I imagine he'd come down through their territory. In the past few years there have been reports from Kite that Hyotei ships have tried making their way south through him and been held off.”

Sanada grunted finally and stood up as well, facing Tezuka across the table. “You said Atobe is moving south to get to Seigaku. How can you be sure?”

Tezuka looked at him evenly and there was noticeable reluctance in the slight shift in his expression. “He's made it obvious enough to us.” 

There was a tone of finality in Tezuka's voice and though Sanada wanted more information, the unimpressed expression on Yukimura's face was a strong enough indicator to do it in his own time. His King seemed to think very little of Tezuka's claims that Hyotei's push to the south was purely for what he considered a mostly unremarkable country.

“We'll move north,” Sanada said. “I'll take the men here, and the men Kunimitsu has brought. We can be there by mid-summer if we push fast. Jackal can use the early summer to his advantage to hold them off until we arrive.”

“Even with the numbers from Seigaku, there's not enough people,” Yukimura said coldly, glancing at Tezuka. “We've discussed this before, Genichirou.”

“We'll make no difference staying here,” Tezuka said, looking at the map. “By going north we will at least make an impact, as small as it may be.” Although as they caught each other's eye, Sanada realised neither of them believe that they would do nothing up there.

“Summer is the best chance we have. Once autumn hits, it will become too difficult. He'll use the incoming cold weather behind him to push into the country, regardless of whether the mountain pass holds or not,” Yanagi finally spoke, stepping forward from where he was standing next to Yukimura, all three of them looking at him.

Sanada nodded at his words and looked at Yukimura who still looked unconvinced.

“Give us a day to prepare and then we'll move out. Seiichi, pull Yagyuu from his full time duty and focus him on finding Niou.” Sanada hated the bitter taste of falsehood in his mouth as he spoke to Yukimura. “There's no victory in pushing Atobe back into Hyotei unless we can seal our borders shut behind him.”

–

Perhaps there was some small guilt at having left the country to its own defences, but it was so easy to block off contact from the outside world and imagine that nothing had gone wrong.

It had only meant to be a few days, originally. It would have been fine. Niou only had to visit the central lodestone every few days to recharge it, the web of protective lodestones around the country's borders sustained themselves for long enough without his help.

But alone in the abandoned fort he'd taken up residence in, there was no constant expectations on him, no eyes watching his every move and it was absolutely liberating. And perhaps it was too easy for the days to become weeks and then to stretch into months.

There had been the contact with the outside world that arrived shortly after he did; the bird that had flown in through the open window to fly around his head and then to melt into the thin air as he made to touch it, so characteristic of Yagyuu. There had been no tracking spell on the bird and Yagyuu wasn't following behind it, but Niou still upped the defences on his fort and send out his own messenger in return, to let him know he at least wasn't dead.

His only company otherwise were the creatures of the forest that came in through the open doors, that no human eyes could see, and the magical birds that sometimes hung around for days as Niou tempted them with wisps of his own magic and stroked along their coloured plumage that was so like smoke as it trailed into nothingness around them.

No one breached his circle of magic, that spread to the edges of the trees and confused anyone that walked into the forest. And Niou heard no human steps beyond his own for so long, as he padded through the empty rooms and ran his fingers over the edges of dusted books in different languages.

Until _he_ came.

The knock took him by surprise; he hadn't even noticed the trespasser through his forest or how easily his defences were knocked aside.

Even the sparks of lightning sent his way were brushed off as the first footfall passed his doorway and into the room. Niou stood up from his seat at the table, calling back even his fox messenger that was visiting Yagyuu, feeling the small snippet of magic flow back into him as it returned.

“Who are you?” he demanded. His first thought was someone like Yagyuu, from the glint of his glasses, to the smile that was all too familiar and it immediately put Niou on guard. “How did you get here?”

He groped out with his magic for his barriers, still in tact, stretching around the forest to deceive anyone that try to pass them. There was no sign of any forced entry, no sense of humans nearby them or inside them at all and Niou looked even more warily at the stranger.

“Hello darling sorcerer.” Their voice was low and buttery and Niou could feel the compulsion and the power washing over him in those simple words. 

Niou felt himself being pushed down, by hands or by magic, he didn't know and didn't really care. The same was caressing his skin and the voice spoke again, in his ear this time.

“It would please me so much if you stayed here a while longer.”

And really, when it was said like that, it really was difficult to get himself to disagree and Niou let himself sink into the sensations, reaching out himself, pulling them down on top of him and tangling his magic with their own.

A little while longer, perhaps, was fine.

–

“Where is Renji?” Sanada demanded, looking around the crowd in front of him. The unit from Seigaku was melding well with his own, both teams efficient as they saddled up their horses, almost ready to move out.

Tezuka was nearby, carefully securing his own bag to the back of the saddle, pausing to look around as well. “It appears he's not here, Genichirou,” he said, unable to stop himself and he turned to finish up his task, not missing the twitch of annoyance on Sanada's jaw and trying not to feel too amused.

“Give him another half candlemark. If we push through the middle part of the day, we can still make it,” Tezuka said.

Even as he said that though, Tezuka was very aware it was pushing it, with a hard ride ahead to the river crossing guaranteed whether or not they left now or a little later. Low tide was coming later in the afternoon now, but it still left a preciously small window in which they could all cross before they had to lose a day in travel that they could scarcely afford.

“I've left Shuusuke in the care of your healer,” Tezuka said, even though Sanada had heard everything the night before. Sanada just grunted in response. “Hopefully together they can figure out Niou's system and reactivate the boundaries or at the very least, try to find him.”

From what Sanada had told him last night though, neither of them were going to be successful. It was dangerous, having a powerful sorcerer with little maturity or self control as the centre point of an entire country's defence and Sanada and Yukimura seemed well aware of it. While Fuji was hardly at that level, he possessed a control of self that Tezuka knew he wasn't alone in finding disconcerting.

“He might learn something as well,” he added on, which would be a great bonus for their country.

Tezuka paused as he moved to buckle his sword onto his saddle as well, feeling Sanada's eyes on him.

“You're not going to keep it on you?” Sanada asked and Tezuka narrowed his eyes slightly at his tone. It seemed almost like a test.

“You believe our large number will face opposition moving through your country, brother?” Tezuka asked, and he was gratified to see a hint of amusement pass over Sanada's face at his taunt.

“It's best to be prepared,” was Sanada's noncommittal answer. “Although from the reports, swords won't do much good against Atobe.”

Tezuka inclined his head in acquiescence at that. Atobe fought primarily with magic and while his forces were still very much men and mortal from all accounts he'd heard, they were still backed by an extremely powerful magic that made them all the more terrifying.

Still, Tezuka kept his sword on his saddle and checked that his daggers were in their usual place in his boots and the visible one on his belt. To at least give him enough time to draw his sword if need be. 

Sanada moved off then, to move amongst his command and ensure they were all ready to go before he went to saddle up Yanagi's horse, in the hopes of leaving as soon as the late advisor made his appearance.

Tezuka followed his lead, walking around his own Seigaku men, distinguished by the small blue insignia on their chests that some put their hand over in a salute towards him as he passed. They were good men that had followed him into the potential unknown of Rikkai. He hoped they were good enough to return as well.

It took just a little while longer before Yanagi finally appeared, running a little as he carried his bag with him. He looked almost stressed, an expression that didn't seem to fit at all with the image that he had presented the previous night.

“My apologies for being late, Genichirou,” he said, moving to his horse that he knew immediately was his own. “I lost track of the time and got lost in my study.”

Sanada just glanced at him as he swung himself into his saddle, a silent indication to keep talking.

“I was studying written histories last night and may have found a lead on where Niou might have gone off to. I sent the information to Yagyuu before I arrived, he can follow it up.”

Sanada nodded and twisted around as he turned his horse in a tight circle to face the exit out of the castle. “Explain it more to me later. We're moving out,” he called out loudly, his voice carrying through the ranks.

–

They moved at a grueling pace, rising before dawn and only settling down after the moon had risen. The pace was a little hard on his men, not used to traveling so long on horseback, but Tezuka was pleased to see them performing their duties with no complaints. He ignored the small containers of healing cream that he saw passed around their group to rub at their chafing thighs late into the night.

As long as it soothed their complaints during the day as well and they could maintain this pace, he could not object.

Sanada and him alternated during the day between moving along the line of men and leading at the front, each night convening with Yanagi to ensure they were still on the right path. Occasionally they spent a little time together during the day, mostly to discuss matters of their command – a horse that had gone lame partway through the day, if they were on time and sometimes, in quiet tones as they pulled ahead slightly, their own speculations about what was happening up north.

The latter topic only really came about though when they had dinner together, around their own separate fire away from the masses. Sometimes Yanagi joined them, but often the man vanished for the night after their short meeting, for an early night he said. As long as he reappeared when they were to go in the morning and packed up his own belongings, Tezuka didn't concern himself overly with it.

He knew Atobe was far to the north, there was little risk.

It was one night such as those that they sat together, watching the fire slowly burn down into the embers. Together they were men of silence with no unnecessary words between them, which Tezuka found refreshing. It reminded him of why exactly he had gotten along so well with Sanada in their youth.

“You never revealed why Atobe was targeting Seigaku,” Sanada said, glancing at Tezuka. There was no accusation in his voice as he spoke, just a simple statement. “You know why, though.”

Perhaps he had figured out Tezuka's reticence to reveal the information in front of Yukimura and trusted that his friend would tell him now. And for that alone reason, Tezuka felt inclined to tell him.

“We've met, King Atobe and I. On a trading route through Higa territory,” Tezuka said, just a little stiffly. But the fire was warm and the whiskey passed between them helped as well. “They got into a conflict with Higa and we intervened.”

Higa had very little in terms of land, but they were grossly protective of what islands they did have and barred any unauthorised entry into the inlets. Atobe had had the unfortunate encounter with the ship holding Kite and the more aggressive of his lieutenants.

From what he had gathered, Hyotei had been there illegally and it had taken on his part, some very swift negotiation to get Kite to lower the sword from Atobe's neck where it had been firmly placed early on into the ambush. 

“I'm afraid Atobe became rather infatuated.” To anyone else perhaps, he might have felt some measure of embarrassment confessing that particular fact, one that had been obvious to only him and his closest advisor Oishi. But to Sanada, it was just a statement of facts, to help him piece together the web of motivations to help him defend his country.

“You said Kite's been sending reports of Atobe attempting to move south through his territory,” Sanada said, frowning a little.

“Yes, repeatedly. He's tried in less than ideal sailing conditions as well, in the hopes of avoiding Higa's patrol.”

That particular attempt had failed, Atobe not counting on Higa having a bevy of sorcerers who were very adept at manipulating weather and sea conditions for their ships' benefit.

“Atobe's interest isn't in Seigaku,” he said, looking across the fire at Sanada. The lighting cast strong, almost ominous shadows across his friend's face and his eyes were unreadable as Tezuka looked at him. “It's in me.”

Sanada didn't speak for a long time, and for a fleeting moment, he wasn't sure Sanada believed him. And even if he did... who was to say that he would continue defending his border, knowing that Atobe had no real interest in his people?

The fire dwindled as they sat in silence, listening to the murmurs of the people sitting fires away as they talked, about menial topics that were still so important to them; their families, their farms that they had been pulled away from, the words of their children that they had left behind... the taxes of the cities they lived in and their human, day to day concerns.

Tezuka exhaled slowly, keeping his eyes firmly on Sanada.

“He's still coming through Rikkai, the fool,” Sanada said finally. “His motivation isn't our concern, we have to defend the country's border.”

Tezuka nodded, feeling an unfamiliar wash of relief over him. He took another sip of the whiskey, feeling it warming down to his fingers.

“Thank you, brother. I'm indebted to you.”

Sanada snorted and took a drink of his own. “Tell me that after we get to the wall and see its state.”

–

Their path took them along the edges of the forest where they camped one night, even though it was still early into the afternoon and Sanada disliked the loss of the extra candlemarks of travel. However, the extra time gave them the opportunity to make repairs to their equipment and replenish their supplies somewhat. Time that their whole unit sorely needed.

Tezuka could hear some appreciative sighs as the men slid off their saddles and moved to set up camp with a skilled efficiency that had come from much training and been honed through the past few days of practice where their only light was the moon.

He lingered for a while, watching the men and then made his way towards the forest. It suddenly seemed like such a good idea to wander through the trees and perhaps look for some firewood. If he was less tired from days of traveling at a grueling pace, perhaps he would have questioned the sudden whimsy to do what should have been another man's job, but Tezuka didn't question it as he was now.

The trees in the forest were thick, moreso than he had anticipated as the sun shone down through their foliage and he carefully kept the exit to his back to know where the camp was.

Even so, there was so much to focus on, from the birds that called out to one another from the branches of the trees; to the movements in the distance between the trunks, of what he could only assume was larger game, watching the intruder in their midst.

The sword at his hip felt heavy and his footsteps through the foliage on the floor, overly loud.

There was no logic to the route he chose as he went, picking up pieces of wood and piling them in his arms. The forest got more silent as he went though, his footsteps the loudest sound in there. As Tezuka looked back, the edge where he had entered was still visible, though surely, he had taken more steps than that.

It was strange, but he was no stranger to magic, both from people and in the world around them. There were a number of magical lakes in Seigaku that sparkled in a way most unnatural as the morning sun hit them. Beautiful but unworldly. Tezuka had only seen two in his time and in both the water had been clear and ordinary as he cupped it in his hands to look at them, and became remarkable as the drops returned to the lakebed.

He'd dove in once, swimming down until his chest burned with the need for air. The bottom of the lake had seemed so close as he'd first struck out with his feet in the water, just a few strokes away before he could touch it with his fingers. But even as he reached the limits of his air, as he swiped with his hands through the water, there was nothing but empty water in front of him.

And as he'd turned around to head for the surface, it had been but a short few kicks away, as if he had gone nowhere at all.

The forest too, that had much the same feeling as those lakes, surely had the same magic in it. He could lead himself to believe it just from the strange atmosphere and the small, brightly coloured birds that flitted through the leaves as he looked up, so swiftly and sometimes vanishing into thin air even as he looked at them.

In such a forest, one would expect to hear people's presences from a distance, and with Tezuka's senses straining, he thought that even moreso. He reached out to touch the trunk of a tree to balance himself as he stepped over its roots, and as he looked up again, he nearly dropped his armful of firewood as someone appeared.

They could be a ghost, for how suddenly they had appeared before him, and he would almost be inclined to believe it from the white hair and ghostlike fox that stood beside him. The fox vanished even as he stared at it and he was almost holding his breath to see the man disappear into thin air as well.

But he didn't, even as their eyes met and their lips parted in surprise, their eyes widening in much the same way.

“What are you doing in here?” they asked, no, demanded.

“It should be obvious,” Tezuka said, making a small gesture with his arms to indicate the firewood he was carrying and he saw the anger that had so quickly appeared, deflate just as swiftly.

The mixture of emotions he was reading off of the strange man were confusing, almost muffled as he tried to look closer. Tezuka took a step closer and it was like the world lurched beneath his feet and he just stopped himself from dropping what he was carrying.

“Don't try to move.” There was a strange mixture between a threat and... almost concern in the voice.

The fox reappeared then, behind him and the touch of its nose against his leg was strangely insubstantial and yet there and Tezuka wished he could lower his hand to touch its head. Somehow though, he suspected it would be just as skittish as its owner and vanish beneath his fingertips if he tried.

“You're not from Rikkai,” they said finally and the fox trotted away, looking much too pleased with itself.

“No, I'm not.” It seemed wise to speak the truth, in such a situation where he was concerned about even moving. “I'm visiting from Seigaku.”

“Seigaku? That's different.” He came closer then and Tezuka could see the relative youth in his face even as the white hair belied their age. He was also becoming sure they were very much real, as their hand reached out to grab his arm, warm and solid as any other's.

Tezuka said nothing and didn't move as those hands moved to prod at his face and side, although his jaw tensed slightly. He watched the fox instead as it pranced between the trees, and focused on the weight of the wood he was carrying that became heavier as the time ticked on.

“Who are you?” he asked finally, as the man moved as though to walk away. His feet were suddenly free to move and the first step he took, he nearly overbalanced. But he caught himself before he did, frowning up at the other as they whistled at the fox, which turned to look at him and trotted back.

“I'm just a humble fox farmer,” he said with a laugh at an inside joke only known to him. “I raise them in the forest, all by myself.”

“One hardly makes you a farmer of them,” Tezuka observed and he was rewarded with the man smiling at him.

“How many make a farm, then? Three? Five? Ten?” As he spoke, more foxes seemed to appear, poking their heads around trees just a few paces away and further into the forest. They appeared and disappeared faster than Tezuka could count, moving between the trees faster too than they should be able.

“More than you have,” Tezuka's answer came and he moved, glad that he still could, stepping away from the strange fox man.

He glanced behind him, and the forest looked different to how it had when he'd passed through originally, with no sign of the path he'd taken to get here from the campsite and for once, there was a cold rush of fear in the very depths of his stomach.

“You're camped on the edge of the woods, aren't you?”

“Yes.” No details were necessary to give.

The look he received was long and silent before they whistled again for the fox to reappear by his legs. “You should move and not get too comfortable there. The forest doesn't really like men that bring swords and axes near it.” He could their gaze on the short sword in his belt and then flicking down to his boots with the two daggers in hidden sheaths.

“We're not going to harm the forest,” Tezuka said, just a little impatiently as he watched after him.

The stranger shrugged. “You might find some of your men being dragged away into the night, then. Magical places don't really discriminate.” There was a pause and the man stopped. “You at least, should camp on the outer edge, away from the tree line.”

Tezuka didn't reply and after a long moment, they shrugged and moved away again. “Come visit again. I don't see many people now, it was fun.”

And then the man vanished. And with his disappearance, so too did the brightness of the forest seem to vanish, becoming almost oppressive as he stood there. But as he turned around to look behind him, suddenly the path was clear and he could almost hear the sound of the men moving through the camp that seemed but a few footsteps away.

–

“You were a long time, Kunimitsu,” Sanada said as he stepped into the campsite. It was near nightfall now, very different from the dappled sunlight that had been there when he had first left the camp, as the men used the afternoon light to see. Now the fires were starting and Tezuka placed his own armful of firewood down.

“I met someone in the forest unexpectedly,” Tezuka said, straightening up. “He said he was a fox farmer, though his foxes were none that I have ever seen before.”

Sanada's expression was suddenly sharp and Tezuka frowned as his gaze became intense upon him. “Did they give a name?” he asked.

“He gave none. Just cryptic words.”

“And his face? His hair?” 

Tezuka suddenly became aware of Yanagi approaching as they spoke, a quickness in his step suggesting some measure of urgency that he normally didn't see in the normally contained man. “He had white hair. Perhaps of age with your King?” Tezuka frowned slightly. “Blue eyes.”

Sanada swore and Tezuka blinked in surprise, hearing Yanagi come to a stop next to him. “We're changing our plan, Renji. We've located Niou, we're going to drag him back to the capital.”

It was difficult to tell, with the careful mask that the advisor wore, but there might have been surprise from the way his eyes opened into slits and the slight tensing of his shoulders that Tezuka only just picked up on.

“Leave him, Genichirou,” Yanagi said finally. “I'll send a message to Yagyuu and leave the task to him. Masaharu has his job he needs to do and we have ours. We _must_ get to the northern pass.”

Sanada looked so reluctant to follow Yanagi's words, but Tezuka could see him thinking it over and could perhaps even follow his train of thought. It was mixed with his own disbelief though, that the man he'd met in the forest had been... _Niou_ of all people.

The most powerful sorcerer in Rikkai, was that sort of person? It baffled the mind. Somehow his sudden disappearance from the court seemed to make a bit more sense, however selfish and careless of a decision it had been.

“Niou also mentioned that we shouldn't camp along the forest,” Tezuka said carefully. “I believe he was just trying to get us to move on quickly, however,” he added on quickly, as Sanada frowned at him as he spoke.

The idea of sentient trees seemed ridiculous, even as he looked at them looming just a few paces away. Seeing the men nearby made him think about Niou's words about them being dragged into their depths during their sleep...

Foolishness, surely.

“We'll move out at first light tomorrow,” Sanada said firmly, looking around them as well. “Tell them to stay away from the trees.”

He wondered at Sanada seeming to somewhat acknowledge Niou's words, but Tezuka nodded. Yanagi looked somewhat pleased anyway and his gaze lingered on the advisor until the man noticed him and turned away first.

–

Atobe, the Ice King of Hyotei sat in his private chambers, watching the sunset through the ice of his window. It was cold in his room, but he felt none of it, even as ice tendrils spread from where his fingers lay on the sill.

“He's vanished from my sight,” Atobe said, speaking seemingly to himself, and then there was a footstep behind him and a man stepped out from the shadows. He laughed softly to himself. “I knew you were there, Yuushi.”

Oshitari nodded his head in acquiescence. His smile was always a little too slippery and deceptive to be honest, but Atobe trusted him, as he always had through the years that they had been together. He'd never steered him wrong, after all.

“I always am,” Oshitari said.

Atobe turned to look out the window and frowned. He'd been following Tezuka so closely, along the channel into Rikkai, and his journey north with someone that made Atobe's fingers clench in the silken material of his trousers. Sanada.

But it had been a clear picture if he closed his eyes, although he couldn't hear his words as they spoke at night; he could see their stretch of men that he all too proudly knew was too few.

Until today when the presence Atobe tracked almost constantly, disappeared completely. And even as he sat there with his eyes closed and stretched out his fingers of magic across Rikkai, there was no sign of him.

“Where could he be?”

“They're camping near the southern edges of Minstrelsea,” Oshitari reported and Atobe did wonder how Oshitari was always knowledgeable about their movements whenever he spoke to him. Perhaps his friend too, followed them just as closely as he did. “Those forests have always held much magic and has always been very good at hiding things from prying eyes.”

Atobe's eyes narrowed at that and he was silent for a long moment as he closed his eyes and poked around the forest that stretched into the distance as far as his magical senses could see.

“What else does it hide?”

Oshitari's smile seemed as natural as ever, but there was that small twinge of suspicion as Atobe looked at it and he carefully schooled his own face into neutrality.

“Nothing, Keigo,” Oshitari's words were easily said. “Just old magic that has grown very strong in its age. The trees hide their own secrets, but no one else's.”

Atobe frowned slightly and pulled his awareness away from Rikkai, and back to watching Oshitari. “As long as Tezuka is leaving there,” he said and he became all the more suspicious as Oshitari seemed to relax.

He stepped closer to Atobe and the hands running up his arm made him sigh. Oshitari had never minded the icy cold of his skin or the way he leaned into the warmth.

“Tezuka will be heading north immediately,” he said. “And if he's wise, he won't be stepping into that forest again.”

Oshitari leaned closer and his breath on Atobe's ear was so warm and his voice, soft and buttery in a way that made warmth pool in Atobe's lower abdomen and relax even more in his seat. “Perhaps you should send him a reminder though, he should be close enough now to be within your dream reach.”

He'd never pushed himself that far – there had never been any need to extend his reach that far into other's territories... but Oshitari wasn't lying. With the magical defences of Rikkai all but scattered, Atobe was finding it easier to invade south.

“It's nearly nighttime. Relax, Keigo, you'll need all your energy for tonight.”

Atobe sighed and was so aware of Oshitari's warm hands and he nodded, closing his eyes and letting his consciousness and magic fly south into Rikkai. 

–

Tezuka dreamed that night, as he lay in the outer ring of his men, as far from the forest as he could. It was foolishness, he knew that, to listen to someone like Niou, but he still did, even as there was little protection from the elements this far from the forest and the press of bodies that provided much of the warmth in the night.

He fell asleep to the snorting of the horses and the soft footsteps and murmured voices of the men on guard, soft snores rumbling across the camp.

He walked through the forest in his dream, although it was much lighter than it had seemed in real life. There were no animals here this time though, and no foxes as he became aware of himself looking for them.

But there were footsteps, light on the ground and Tezuka turned to look, spotting the white hair of Masaharu Niou before his face came into focus and the surprised but somewhat curious expression on his face.

“So you're invading my forest in both states,” he said. There was no anger in his voice, just curiousity. “Did you move from your camp?”

“No, we didn't. Genichirou insisted on staying. They're not going into the forest though.”

Niou tilted his head at him and Tezuka became aware of the piercing gaze he was receiving that seemed to cut through his dreams onto his sleeping body. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Sanada never listens to me. That doesn't surprise me. But did you?”

It was strange, referring to himself and being so aware that this was a dream. And yet as he reached out to grab onto Niou, the skin beneath his hand felt so warm and real, as did the surprised expression that he got in return.

“I'm sleeping at the very edges, away from the trees.”

Tezuka let go of Niou's arm and the other man touched his forearm with his other hand, frowning as he did so, as if wondering what had happened.

“Good. Good,” Niou said, more to himself than to Tezuka.

He looked around them, noting the silence and lack of anything else near them save the sunlight and the trees. “No fox charges this time? Are you taking a break from farming?”

Niou smiled at that. “They're off doing other things, the world of dreams doesn't interest them as much.”

“I see.” He didn't.

He wondered how real this dream was, and whether he was really talking to Niou. Somehow, he wouldn't be surprised, even as he'd always thought of his dreams as things of make believe. But Niou standing next to him felt so real, it was a difficult task to think otherwise even as he knew this was as dream.

“You're Masaharu Niou, aren't you? The missing sorcerer.” Tezuka found himself asking and immediately Niou's expression shuttered and he seemed to take steps back and further the distance between them as if him being nearby had never happened.

“You've been talking to Sanada.”

There was no point in lying, or denying it. Tezuka nodded and Niou's expression became mutinous.

“Niou...” Tezuka wasn't sure what to say, and he closed his mouth again as Niou stared at him longer.

“... You call Sanada by his first name. You should do the same with me if you're going to ask me a question,” Niou said and Tezuka thought he detected a smidgen of huffiness in his voice and the tilt of his chin.

“Very well.” It was awkward though, and Tezuka visibly paused before he spoke again. “Masaharu...”

But before he could continue, he could feel his consciousness start to stir and became aware of the hardness of the ground and the sounds around him, as though he was being pushed out of the dream forcibly... and then suddenly the feelings vanished, the forest scenery changed and Niou disappeared.

This time he found himself on a cliff, overlooking what he immediately recognised as the northern pass into Rikkai. Although he had never seen the pass for himself, he had heard enough of it from Sanada to recognise the fort, so similar to the more southern one he had spent his youth in. More telling perhaps, was the snow on the ground that normally would have filled him with so much dread as it signaled winter's approach into Rikkai.

It was too early still for the snow to be falling like this, he knew that. Not reality that he stared at, then. Perhaps someone else's dreams, as he seemed to have invaded Niou's before.

And indeed, there was someone near him and Tezuka turned around to face them.

“Masaharu?” he found himself saying and instantly knew it was a mistake as the presence grew almost ominous.

“Not Masaharu,” a voice said and they were there, in the swirling snow. The long fur coat and pale icy skin was all so familiar, as were the blue eyes upon his own and the pleased smirk on the man's face.

“Atobe,” he said, nodding at the man.

“It's been a long time since we've met in person, Tezuka,” Atobe said and the hand upon his arm was so different to the warmth of Niou that Tezuka tensed up in surprise. “You're taking a long time to get north, I thought you'd be here already.”

This was a dream, though a dream of Atobe's making, Tezuka knew. He wondered at pulling himself out of sleep, but somehow he doubted it would succeed as Atobe sunk his magical claws deeper into his mind to keep him there.

“We have a lot of men to transport north. It takes time,” Tezuka said, keeping his eyes on the fort. He thought there would be Atobe's forces on the northern side, but there was nothing. The snow around them was untouched and the fort itself looked untouched.

“I only needed you to come north.”

Tezuka frowned at Atobe and pulled his arm free, taking a step back. “Your offer to join you in Hyotei didn't interest me years ago and it still doesn't.”

But even as he said that, he knew it was a little untrue. Tezuka would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it, lying in his bed in Seigaku and considering his position within the country. He was a general and he was happy with that, but Atobe had offered him a lot more.

And worse still, Atobe seemed so aware of it, of where his thoughts had wandered those nights from that first meeting they'd had. He could probably taste the lie in Tezuka's words, and Tezuka watched Atobe's lips curl into a knowing smile that seemed all too smug.

“Come faster, Tezuka. Winter is coming and the fort isn't going to last much longer.”

And before his eyes, the fort changed and there were burning holes in its outer wall, stone crumbled to the ground around it. How long had it been, he wondered, since the outer wall had been breached?

“Is this happening?”

Atobe looked at him and then back to what he had made appear. “It _will_ happen if I don't get what I want. Ride faster, break away from your men if you need to.” The grip on his arm was back, cold and biting into his skin as Atobe dug his fingers in. “You're taking too much time and I'm getting impatient.”

Tezuka pulled his arm from Atobe's grip and moved to walk away. Though in his dreams, he wondered where exactly there was to go.

“I'll arrive when I do. You will have to wait,” Tezuka said dismissively and it was satisfying to see Atobe's composure slip just a little at his words.

There was silence between them as they stared at each other and Atobe made to leave himself, which would undoubtedly signal the end of Tezuka's dream. And then he paused, at the edge of the cliff overlooking the pass.

“One last thing, Tezuka. Stay away from the forest.”

“Goodbye, Atobe,” Tezuka said and he was pleased that he jerked out of sleep with his lips still forming the words and he sat up.

It was cold as he sat there, but there was no snow on the ground and it was hard to believe that just moments before, he'd been in a world of ice that wasn't too far from here.

Tezuka looked at the forest again and then stood up. He needed to wash his face.


	2. Chapter 2

They followed the path of Minstrelsea north, even as Tezuka spoke to Sanada otherwise. He could see the logic of it, as much as he thought about Atobe and Niou's warnings. There had been no men dragged away in the middle of the night and nothing was missing, so Tezuka's argument had little to stand on but dreams.

The start of winter was approaching, even as they only entered into mid-summer, with the nights becoming colder and the trickle of frosts starting so many months early even as they drew nearer to the north. It was a terrifying realisation as the nights dipped into the freezing when normally they would be hot and dry with only a light breeze to keep the men cool.

Atobe's icy fingers were truly extending more and more as the days went on, and Yanagi likened it to the continual weakening of Niou's shields around the country.

The forest provided them with some protection, even camped along its edges, and with a constant source of firewood they could scavenge from every night to remain warm. The ice didn't seem to come near them when they remained close to the trees either and it was even more difficult the more they travelled, to continue his argument with Sanada as to why they should pull away.

Yanagi too seemed displeased, but Sanada simply had to point to the clear separating line of morning frosts to the dry ground they slept on, and Yanagi's words failed him.

He had no dreams either, from Niou or Atobe, to tell him to stay away and it was so easy to pass of the two he had had so many nights ago, as true dreams no matter how they had felt at the time.

There was nothing ever in the forest either, that he could see, whenever he ventured in to collect firewood, or even just sat and stared at its edges. They were nearly there, nearly at the end of the trail of forest that snaked up north through the country, when something finally appeared.

Tezuka sat alone by his fire, the remnants of his night meal on his lap when there was such a light wisp that seemed to glow even as he stared at it, coming together to form what could clearly be seen as a fox. Tezuka stood up and dropped his plate to the ground, moving closer.

No one else seemed to notice the fox, even as it glowed and seemed to wait for him at the tree line.

He waved away the concerned question of where he was going and there were no questions to follow.

“Have you lost your owner?” he asked, somewhat amused as the fox moved around his legs, winding around him and sniffing at him. Looking at it closer, the fox seemed more solidly built than the ones he'd seen earlier, as if this one had been spoiled far too often by its owner.

That didn't surprise him.

It seemed like the right thing to do, to follow behind the fox as it trotted away with its wispy tail floating behind it, almost like a flag signaling him ahead. Tezuka stepped forward, unafraid of the forest floor that he couldn't see in the dark, not caring about any uneven ground that never seemed to come anyway.

It was magic, he thought, the forest was definitely magic as he wound through trees behind the fox that stopped just ahead of him now and again, looking back to make sure he was still following.

And all so suddenly, the trees cleared into a grove and this definitely, was magic, as the light was far too bright to be the nighttime that he knew it was. Magic, for the light to be reflecting off the pool in the middle and to so clearly see Niou sitting by its edge, surrounded by a whole collection of foxes, each of them flickering in and out of existence.

There was a fort on the other side of the pool, small and run down, but somehow he had a feeling of its strange significance here, in the middle of the woods.

The fox ahead of him wound around his legs one more time before it yipped and bounded forward, making Niou turn around to look at him in surprise. The foxes seemed to vanish as one suddenly, leaving just Niou sitting there alone.

“Are you following us, Masaharu?” Tezuka asked finally, breaking the silence.

“No, I'm back where we first met. I haven't moved.”

That made Tezuka frown, his eyebrows drawing together. They had moved very quickly in the past days covering miles upon miles of ground. “That's impossible.”

Niou's smile was a trifle too amused as he turned to properly face Tezuka, still seated on the ground. “I told you when we first met. The forest is magic. Impossibilities don't exist anymore.”

He had nothing to say to that, and Tezuka frowned to himself.

“Atobe's pushing south more, his reach is extending,” Tezuka said, and he was gratified to see Niou look just a trifle guilty as he spoke. “You need to return to your post to fix it. It's not too late.”

The smile he'd become so used to seeing had so quickly vanished as Niou stood up and he was worried for a moment that Niou might disappear as easily as his foxes had. He didn't want him to vanish, he realised, and Tezuka crossed the distance between them so quickly, grabbing onto his arm.

“I know what's happening,” Niou said and there was just a small flash of guilt across his face as he pulled his arm free. But he didn't move to get away, Tezuka realised with some relief. “I'm not going back though.”

Tezuka gritted his teeth in frustration, giving in to emotions he normally didn't let himself feel. “You could push Atobe out of Rikkai if you wanted to. Men are dying because of your selfish whims.”

He expected Niou to cave, for his expression to falter and to ease him back into agreeing to come with him. Sanada could continue north, and maybe Tezuka could escort Niou back alone so he didn't feel pressured. But he didn't expect a hardening of Niou's mouth and the defiance.

“Atobe's not alone in his push, you know,” Niou said and Tezuka gave his surprise away by a slight widening of his eyes that he knew Niou had caught. “He's being aided by someone else. Who isn't hindered at all by any barriers I put up.”

This was news to Tezuka. Even when he'd met Atobe in person the few times, there had been always just Atobe by himself. He wondered where the man had found someone like that to help him for his ridiculous cause.

“I see...”

Niou snorted and pulled away a bit. “No you don't. You're not magical, you don't understand.”

Tezuka reached out to grab onto Niou again, pulling at the fabric of the woven shirt he was wearing. “Then help me to understand.”

He thought for a moment about the cloth he grasped so firmly in his hand suddenly becoming air and Niou fading away, but he stayed there, staring at Tezuka with troubled eyes.

“There's someone else in Hyotei. Someone extremely magical. That's why he's able to extend his reach into Rikkai so far. And he's found _me_ already.”

There was no fear in Niou's voice, just a statement of facts and something that Tezuka could say was perhaps confusion. Tezuka moved his hand to Niou's arm, pushing up the sleeve of his shirt to grasp onto his bare forearm.

“Facing Atobe and whoever else head on isn't going to work. Putting my barriers up around the country isn't going to do anything but delay the inevitable. Even physical walls aren't going to hold him back forever, at least when he finally decides to be serious about it,” Niou said. “So I'm looking at other ways to stop him.”

He paused and grinned at Tezuka. “I heard you talking to Sanada, you know. About why you're here and why Atobe's coming through Rikkai.”

Tezuka fought hard to keep his face neutral, but he was so sure Niou saw the little signs of embarrassment and awkwardness that managed to slip through his composure; at least if the widening grin was anything to go by.

“Aa...”

Niou didn't seem to mind his non-answer, moving to face him properly and lifting his hands up to touch his face. Tezuka felt a tingle against his skin as Niou ran his fingers over his cheekbones, something he liked to believe was a sign Niou was performing some kind of magic as they stood so close to each other.

“Maybe you should stay close to the trees after all,” Niou's face was much too close to his own now and Tezuka stared at the small mole on the other man's chin as he frowned a little and spoke. “Atobe's been watching you.”

“And my men? Won't they be dragged into the forest in their sleep as you warned before?”

Niou shrugged a little. “It's a sacrifice you'll have to risk. The trees will offer you protection otherwise too... from the weather and from Atobe. I suggest you take it. They're pretty generous like that.”

“I'll discuss it with Genichirou. He is as in charge of this venture as I am.” 

“Don't tell him it was from me. He doesn't like me.” The idea of it didn't seem to bother Niou overly much though, as he shrugged again.

“I wont.” He didn't mention that Sanada was staying along the edge anyway, regardless of what he had said to him. And Tezuka suspected they would remain following along the edge of Minstrelsea as long as the trees facilitated their path. According to Sanada, they did, with just a hard day's ride away from their northern edge up to the pass.

“Good.” Niou seemed satisfied anyway, and he smiled at Tezuka.

They were still so close to each other but Tezuka wasn't quite ready to step away and put distance between them again. And with Niou's hands still on his face and running over his jawline, he had a feeling Niou wasn't quite ready to step away either.

“Your fox from before needs to exercise more,” he said, somewhat lamely as he hunted around for a new topic.

Niou snorted in laughter. “He's curvy and just... doesn't go on as many trips as the others. He doesn't need more exercise.”

Tezuka wondered what counted as 'trips' for magical foxes that disappeared into thin air so easily. Trips to visit other people, perhaps, as the chubby fox had visited him?

“A diet, at least.”

It was so easy to lose track of time, standing so close to Niou and talking to him about the most mundane of topics; with the dappled light in the clearing even though he knew it was getting darker outside the forest and Sanada was surely wondering where he was as they started the night shifts.

And so he finally, so reluctantly pulled himself away, taking a physical step back away from Niou. It helped a little, getting the distance between them to stop himself from getting caught up in Niou's pace that he seemed to so easily fall into.

“I need to head back,” Tezuka said, disliking the reluctance that managed to creep into his voice against his will anyway. “It's getting late and we have an early start tomorrow.”

Niou shrugged and turned away, the same chubby fox reappearing and bouncing up to him again. “He'll take you back. See you next time you drop in.”

–

They did indeed continue to stick to the tree line as they moved forth and perhaps that protected them from seeing the true extent of the invasion into Rikkai until the very last day as the trees influence spread out into the distance on either side of them as they camped at its edge.

The last day was done in one hard ride. Foolish yes, but Sanada was intent on moving into the fort as quickly as possible with it being so close, to avoid another night out at the mercies of the elements.

Any other time, he would have separated the journey, when there were no frosts on the ground in the mornings as they woke up, and no overwhelming realisation that Atobe was so close.

So they moved, a train of men and horses that made their way north towards the pass. It had been weeks since they had received new from Jackal and perhaps some part of Sanada was worried about what they were going to find there. Tezuka thought Sanada had no doubts about Jackal's ability to hold the wall, and surely they would have heard, seen _something_ if it had been breached.

But he could see the tension in Sanada nonetheless the closer they got.

The divide between Rikkai and Atobe's influence over Hyotei and the weather became clear as they finally approached the pass, the beginning of snow just appearing on their side of the great walls. Sanada's eyebrows were drawn together as they neared the fort that sat atop the pass, its multi-ringed defences holding back the wintery foes.

The southern gates opened as they approached and the men called for it, being greeted with cheering from the men atop the first of the great walls.

Tezuka thought of what Niou had said and at the iced cracks he could see on the walls of the Keep, in the distance as they made their way into the first ring of defence.

The pass wasn't going to last forever, no matter how well Jackal defended it – and by the looks of it, he was defending it indeed. The reason it was holding up thus far, was because Atobe and the man aiding him hadn't gotten serious about their approach yet.

What was he waiting for?

For the beginning of winter?

… For Tezuka himself to finally get there, he thought ominously.

The Keep at least was comfortable, though the room they were taken to told of the cost of keeping the walls in tact. The room was cold, the stone floor feeling frozen beneath his boots and a chill in the air that the heavy shutters over the windows and the woolen tapestries on the walls weren't quite able to hold back.

There was a fireplace, but it was empty and cold, looking like it had been a long time since it had seen warmth. He supposed firewood was kept for more important things than warming the blood of the commanders, such as keeping their enemies back.

“Fire has been very effective,” Jackal said as he marked the map on the table to get Sanada and himself up to date with the situation. “But fuel and wood are precious and saved only for when things get desperate.”

Sanada nodded. “We've brought along extra firewood in our supplies, it should last for a while.”

Jackal shook his head and Tezuka frowned at the expression on his face. It spoke volumes about what was happening on the front lines and how much they had missed while journeying north. Too, they had missed the sight of the great outer wall as it faced the northern end of the pass and what damage had been done to it in the months since the first attack.

Tezuka imagined it to be similar to the Keep, with the cracks in the ice, but who knew what sort of offences Atobe's forces had brought with them to take on the iron defence of Rikkai and how desperately they were trying to get through.

As he thought about it more and how he would approach it, perhaps it was a miracle that it hadn't fallen yet.

“It will depend on the approach Hyotei takes,” Jackal said. “We've had days of quiet patrols, where we sit freezing through the day. And other days when...” his expression became haunted for a moment, looking with great weariness as he probably remembered the toll of the past few attacks.

“Atobe isn't here himself, personally,” Jackal said, “And for that I'm thankful to whatever god is still there. The men who are here in his place however, are troublesome enough.”

Tezuka frowned slightly. Thinking about who he knew directly under Atobe's command, he wondered who it was leading the forces. Shishido, perhaps. Jirou was too foolhardy.

“You've said fire is particularly effective against them?” he asked and Jackal nodded curtly at him.

“It helps break through their ranks and scatter when used at the right time. They're coming to anticipate it now though, so we only use it when we have no other option.”

Tezuka wondered how often they had no other option but to resort to a measure like that. It didn't bode well for the weeks to come. “And with the approaching cold weather? Has their strength increased obviously?”

Jackal was silent for a long moment and he sighed, looking down at the map instead of at either of them. “It's a sight better seen with your own eyes,” he said and Sanada's eyes noticeably narrowed at that, but there was no objection. They both knew, even though Sanada was the highest ranking man in the military and Tezuka was there as his equal, in the northern pass and the Keep, Jackal was very much the commander.

Sanada finally nodded. “We'll see it at first light tomorrow. It's getting dark.”

“Let me get people to show you to your rooms.” His smile was a bit wane as he spoke. “The rooms are a bit icy from the weather, but you get used to it. They can bring up warm water at least.”

\--

He should have expected to be visited by Atobe in his first night in the fort, the closest he'd been in a long time to Atobe and to Hyotei. And also the first in many times that he'd been away from what he had realised was some meagre protection the trees... and perhaps Niou, offered him from Atobe's magic.

The dreams claimed him almost as soon as he was asleep, icy tendrils that wrapped around him and transported him to the northern stretches of Hyotei that he had visited once before. He found himself in a room that he recognised immediately as belonging inside the castle of ice that Atobe called his own and Tezuka knew from his own visitation there. The castle that gleamed in the sunlight, cold and beautiful much like its owner, spirals of crystalline ice reaching into the sky.

He sat in the room, opposite Atobe who cradled a fine crystal glass in one hand, his fingers loosely around the stem, watching him with an intensity that he hated to admit was becoming all too familiar.

“You're looking well dressed tonight. The colour's good for your eyes,” Atobe said, raising his glass slightly at him and smiling as he took a sip.

Tezuka took the opportunity to look down, seeing the fine green velvet tunic, with a cut far more fashionable than he'd ever cared to wear before. Well fitted leather boots were on his feet that he took a moment to reach down and feel, noting the absence of the usual sheaths for his daggers that he no doubt suspected Atobe was responsible for. Even in dreams, the man seemed to be paranoid of being stabbed by him.

“Thank you,” he said eventually, sitting back. He suspected like before, this wasn't a dream he would be able to wake up from of his own will. It would be even harder now, so close to Atobe, where his magic was so much stronger.

The fire before them was warm and Tezuka stretched out his boots towards it to warm his legs. It was strange how the room of ice was warmer than the room he was in at the Keep, and he didn't even consider for a moment it was a consequence of this being a dream.

While he knew Atobe enjoyed the cold and the man's skin to touch was cool as well, Tezuka also knew that his castle was warm in person.

“I wanted to talk to you again after last time, but I couldn't.” Atobe's eyes narrowed at him slightly. “You shouldn't venture too close to those trees out of my sight, Tezuka.”

Tezuka spread his hand slightly in a gesture of vague apology, taking a sip of the glass. It was rich and flavoursome as he swallowed slowly, so aware of Atobe's eyes on his throat. They shifted to watch his face then, as he lowered his glass. “It was just in a venture to get firewood. Unlike you, my men need it to stay warm.”

Atobe looked just a little frustrated at that. “Unnecessary men,” he snapped a little before he visibly pulled himself back in and became the standoffish man that he did so well.

It was nice, sitting in the silence but Tezuka could only think about how this kind of aware dream would affect him in the morning as he woke up. Atobe was watching him, he knew that, he could feel his gaze so closely on him, watching every move. Eventually, he spoke, breaking the silence.

“Why do we continue to do this, Atobe?”

Atobe was suddenly in front of him, faster than he would have done so in real life, and that took Tezuka by surprise, with no time to prepare himself. He became so aware then, of the hands on him, so cold and different to the warmth of Niou even though he could almost believe that he could feel the same tingle of magic as before as Atobe's hands slid over his shoulders.

“I've told you before. I want you. Join me in Hyotei.” There were lips then too, grazing over his cheek, cold and detached but the puff of air that followed behind them was hot. And embarrassingly, Tezuka found himself becoming quite aware and interested in the sensation.

“I've told you before, I'm not interested,” Tezuka said, though he made no move to push Atobe away.

He had to admit, and he had before as well, he had never been opposed to Atobe's strange obsession with him that had been borne from a single encounter and had only grown as Tezuka had visited Hyotei briefly and met him again. It was just the man's constant insistence that he move to Hyotei that had now escalated to invading another country to get to him that had gone too far.

Tezuka didn't know what Atobe had planned to do when he'd broken through Rikkai and made his way south to Seigaku and perhaps part of him was putting off thinking about it as he focused entirely on just pushing him out of the country to begin with.

And he tried not to think then, as Atobe's hands slid up under the tunic to caress his skin, that maybe he'd done exactly what Atobe had planned for him to do, and brought himself north to meet him.

“I have a question for you, Tezuka,” Atobe asked, breaking Tezuka out of his train of thought and he suddenly became aware of how close Atobe's face was to his own, how his lips brushed against his cheek again.

“Yes?”

“Who's 'Masaharu'? You mentioned him last time we met.”

It took a moment for Tezuka to realise what Atobe was talking about. “He's someone I met on the journey. I happened to dream about a conversation with him that night before you arrived.”

Atobe raised an eyebrow. “A journeyman? Who appears in dreams?”

It was at that moment Tezuka had the ludicrous realisation that Atobe was... _jealous_ of all things and he chuckled, which in and of itself was satisfying enough just to see the surprised expression he received in return.

“He's a farmer. It was an innocent dream of my own mind's making.”

It was easy to lie to Atobe, even as he kept his face neutral and stared at him. He didn't linger on why he was trying to protect Niou from him – and really, did Niou even need protection? He just felt the need to and at this moment in time, that was all that mattered.

Atobe looked doubtful and perhaps that was what made Tezuka so impulsively kiss him, to protect Niou's presence from him, he told himself. Atobe tensed up, but soon relaxed as Tezuka's hands stroked down his back.

And indeed, there were no more questions about Niou asked, nor were any other questions really asked in general, as Tezuka pulled Atobe down towards him. Perhaps it started as a way to protect Niou from him, but he didn't think too much about the reason again. And really, it didn't matter overly much as his mouth slid over Atobe's skin, leaving a trail of heat behind it, or as he watched Atobe flush and pant beneath him.

What was his body doing in real life, he wondered, as he stretched out alongside Atobe, watching him and the way the light from the dying fire played upon his skin.

“I still want you, Tezuka,” Atobe said, as Tezuka ran a hand through his hair and down his side to his hip. His skin was chilled now, and he pressed his warm palm against Atobe's hip, watching him shiver a bit at the sensation. “Meet me in the north and I'll pull back from Rikkai immediately.”

“You're not even here,” Tezuka replied and he was gratified to see Atobe's eyes widen slightly.

“And if I was?” Atobe's voice dipped in volume and his face was so close. “If this wasn't in the dream plane?”

Tezuka pulled away and frowned a little. “I will consider it if it happens.”

He'd never done it before, broken away from Atobe's dreams, but he wanted to so badly now, even as Atobe's body pressed against his own and it was so tempting to just bend down and kiss him again.

But he made himself, watching Atobe's face morph into something cold and almost hungry as he pulled away from Atobe's grasp and awoke with a gasp in his bed at the Keep.

–

Atobe felt himself being pushed out of Tezuka's mind and knew that he was waking up. And he raged in his northern palace of ice. He swept a hand and the crystal decanter of fine wine crashed to the ground, the wine spilling to the ground like blood splatters.

Looking at the scene in front of him, he could almost imagine Tezuka having been there for real, his body warm against Atobe's own as they lay together, his hand on the wine glasses that now lay on the floor in pieces.

He hadn't wanted the dream to end and part of him hated himself for thinking that way. It was some kind of horrid compulsion that had been placed upon him after that first encounter and had only grown through the years.

And now, with the memory of Tezuka's mouth upon his skin and his hands following so quickly behind just left him hot and frustrated from lust as he moved around the room that suddenly seemed too small.

“You seem upset, Keigo.”

The voice appeared so suddenly, followed by such light footsteps on the floor. But Atobe knew that voice anywhere and he looked up, still tense with rage as Oshitari appeared. 

“Tezuka just unexpectedly gained the upper hand for a moment.” He made an effort to pull himself back, to keep his expression neutral... but somehow he had a feeling Oshitari had been watching since the start of his shameful behaviour.

It was so difficult to calm down and he was restless, but Atobe made himself stop moving, sitting down stiffly in his chair, crossing his legs and looking at Oshitari.

“How was it, Keigo?” Oshitari asked with a lilting curiousity in his voice that was otherwise hidden by an all too practiced expression.

“He's close by, it made it much clearer than it has been before.” Tezuka had been so close, Atobe felt like he could reach out a hand and snatch him if he tried hard enough. It had made the dream sharper, more real, for both of them, he hoped and left him aching for more.

“So it was enjoyable?”

Atobe didn't think of Oshitari's prying curiousity, it being something so natural to the man that Atobe had long accepted it. Instead he just nodded and focused his attentions entirely on Oshitari, who always seemed to know everything, no matter what it was.

Surely he would know this.

“Tezuka mentioned a 'Masaharu' appearing in his dreams before. He said he was just a fox farmer, but I don't believe him.”

Atobe didn't miss the way Oshitari's eyes widened slightly as he mentioned the name and immediately he wondered – what exactly had both Tezuka and Oshitari been trying to hide from him?

“Who is he, Yuushi?” He cut off Oshitari as he saw the other man's mouth open to reply, no doubt to deny any knowledge of the man. “I know that you know who he is. Tell me.”

Oshitari nodded his head his acquiescence, though he was silent for a long time as though reluctant to answer. 

When had he grown to be so suspicious of his oldest friend, Atobe had to wonder to himself. There had never been any of it when he'd first made the push into Rikkai, or even well before that. But something about him lately had been enough to spark Atobe's suspicions.

“He's Masaharu Niou, the sorcerer from Rikkai.” 

Atobe's eyes widened slightly. “The one that disappeared?”

Oshitari just nodded and Atobe stared at him in surprise for a long while. He knew of the man, by reputation only though and somehow his name had seemed unimportant when he so easily crumbled.

It had seemed ludicrous, when he'd first learned that the primary magical defence Rikkai employed, was centered around a single person. But as the defences had failed and Atobe had pushed past them, he'd had to admit that they were true, and something had happened to this single person; such a flaw in their otherwise impenetrable and powerful shields.

He'd come up with theories of his own, of course, about what had happened, but they had all centered around death or illness. The thought that the man had simply been hiding somewhere was... ludicrous, really.

It made him a bit disdainful towards him, just that single fact.

He suddenly stopped his train of thought as something new occurred to him. “Is this why Tezuka disappeared whenever he entered the forest? Is that man protecting him?”

It would explain so much, why even in dreams, Tezuka had been so hard to reach. And why, it had been so easy, now that he was away from the man and those cursed trees.

“No, that's the magic of the trees themselves. He has nothing to do with that.”

But Atobe didn't believe him. He'd seen for himself, Tezuka vanish from his far reaching insight as he went into the forest and while he'd believed at the time that the forest had done its own with protecting Tezuka from his sight – and surely, it did to some extent – the knowledge that there was a powerful sorcerer in there led him to believe the trees had had help. After all, he hadn't been able to see Niou for himself either, even though he'd swept over what he could see of the forest.

But why was Oshitari trying to hide it from him?

“He's interfering, Yuushi. Somehow, even if it's not from some kind of protection over Tezuka, he's interfering.”

“He's been taken care of. He's not of any concern to us anymore.”

Atobe kept the smile on his face as he looked at his friend, hiding the suspicion that snuck through his heart.

To continue complaining about Niou hiding Tezuka would undoubtedly raise suspicions and if Oshitari was indeed doing something about this matter, it would only worry him and make unnecessary things happen.

“How should we proceed with Rikkai?” Atobe asked, settling into his seat again and he noticed out of the corner of his eye, Oshitari relax slightly in his dark corner. “They're getting ready for us. They're getting over confident since they've been able to hold us off so far and they've only gained reinforcements since.”

Oshitari's answer was simple, combined as it was with a smile that seemed to gleam out of the dark. 

“Teach them a lesson.”

And so Atobe moved, on the swift night wind towards the fort in which everyone still slept. Save for Tezuka, whom he passed over quickly, feeling the man awake and still mulling over his dream. A good thing too, or he might be tempted to draw him into a dream again, to see how different the second time was.

The men he chose were random, as he smothered them with his magic and pulled out their life force from them, leaving them empty bodies behind as he withdrew and exited. No walls, no tightly shuttered windows, no great locks or might Keeps could keep him out.

–

Tezuka should have been surprised as he woke up to a bed covered in ice even with the shutters closed tightly over the windows, but he wasn't. He shifted and the ice over his bed covers cracked, spilling to the floor as he pushed them away.

Proof of Atobe's visitation into the Keep. No matter how tightly they kept the windows barricaded and how well the walls held up against physical attack, there was always the nighttime and Tezuka knew better than others about Atobe's particular skills with dreams. It was still early, nighttime still outside as he peered through the cracks in the windows and the flame of his candle still burned, showing how much time had passed since he had gone to sleep.

But it was late enough, and Tezuka splashed cold water on his face to wake himself up properly before dressing for the day, pulling on his boots even as he thought about the finely made ones that he had been wearing in his dreams.

He wasn't the only one visited by Atobe last night, Tezuka found out as he broke his fast with Sanada and Jackal. Yanagi had sent his excuses, and for some reason Tezuka found himself not really missing the odd man and how closely he seemed to watch him.

“Three men, last night were taken by the cold,” Jackal said grimly. “It hasn't happened before at the Keep, but it was a regular occurrence during Hyotei's first push down into our territory in the northern villages.”

Sanada looked just as grim. “Is there any way of stopping it? Was there any clear targeting method?”

Jackal shook his head. “It was random, it always has been.”

Tezuka didn't speak, but felt foolish for a moment for forgetting the tales of how fingers of ice crept into houses to steal the sleeping breaths from people inside. Perhaps some selfish part of him realised as well, that the only reason Atobe's magic had been reaching so far into the fort was because of his own presence there.

Had the lives been taken as some kind of retaliation against him forcing his way out of the dream? Should he have perhaps kept Atobe occupied throughout the night in order to spare the rest of their men from a chilling end?

It was an interesting thought, however much the idea made him frown deeply over his plate.

Their conversation eventually turned to less serious topics as Sanada started to bring Jackal up to date with what news he had missed from the court and of Niou's discovered whereabouts. The mention of the sorcerer was enough to make Jackal look slightly strained – no doubt thinking about what consequences his disappearance had had on Jackal's own defence of the border.

He did however notice how Jackal perked up a little at the mention of Marui, and how Sanada purposely dwelled on the doings of the other man as well. Some kind of close friend, then, Tezuka gathered, who seemed to have moved into to priesthood that was stationed at the court.

The lighter topics could only last so long, however, lasting until they moved to their other room, still cold, perhaps moreso than before this time, even though Tezuka was well aware that the sun had to be shining at this hour, however weakly and providing some kind of warmth.

“It's a sign of Atobe moving down himself,” Jackal said as they spoke of the nighttime visit, though his expression was grave and he looked almost as though sheer strength of will was holding him together at this point. “It won't be long until he's upon us.”

Sanada looked angry and on some level, Tezuka could understand the frustrations. They should be able to make some difference, coming up here. How long they managed to hold the fort shouldn't depend on whether or not Atobe himself was there, and how long it took him to arrive. They had come north to push Atobe out of the country, not sit there and wait for him.

“Then we'll prepare for his arrival,” Sanada said grimly. “And give him a welcoming he's never experienced before.”

The tactic was one that Sanada, who usually moved in so aggressively and was the reason Rikkai had been so successful in the past, disliked, Tezuka knew that. But with their own magical sources at a minimum and Atobe having something extra behind him, pushing him forward... it was hard to think of an alternative.

“We have one chance. Let's make it count. We'll wipe him out here.”

–

“Why are all of you interrupting my dreams?” Tezuka found himself asking, speaking to the forest scenery that he found so familiar now, looking at the same trees as before and the familiar form in front of him, sitting surrounded by foxes.

“Interrupting your dreams?” Niou asked, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “You're the one traveling here, not me.” He smiled though. “If anything, you're interrupting _mine_.”

He thought Niou was just lying, trying to hide the fact that he was indeed following Tezuka into the north, instead moving to sit next to Niou, watching the gamboling foxes around them.

“Are you still in the forest masquerading as a fox farmer?” he asked Niou and was gratified to get a bit of a laugh out of him.

“It's not a masquerade. But yes, I'm still in the forest.”

“How have you been?” he asked, reaching out to scratch one of the foxes behind the ear. It was the chubby one again, that seemed more fond of him than the others, that still watched him from a distance even as they played. 

It was a strange sensation, an animal that felt so real beneath his fingers, but with a level of insubstantiality that felt as though it could vanish at any second.

“This fox still needs a diet.”

Niou laughed and he shrugged, seeming to ignore his words. Tezuka reached out instead to impulsively run his fingers through Niou's hair, feeling the difference in how it felt to the insubstantiality of the fox fur. Different too, was the reaction from Niou at the touch, leaning a bit into Tezuka's touch and looking like he was enjoying it.

“What do magical foxes eat?”

“Magical birds and wisps of wild magic. What else?”

Of course.

“And the one that needs to exercise more? What does he eat?”

Niou looked entertained at that question. “Magical birds and wisps of wild magic.” His mouth curled into a secretive smile that Tezuka decided he quite liked. “Sometimes a bit more than he should.”

It was mindless, still petting at Niou's hair and watching him relax into it. And being here with him, Tezuka almost felt so detached from his troubles up in the north. Niou said nothing and they enjoyed the silence together. At least until he heard a yip next to him and Niou laughed.

“Throw a stick to him, Kunimitsu,” Niou said, pointing at a particularly hefty stick nearby. At the questioning glance Tezuka gave him, Niou laughed again. “He likes it. And it'll be good exercise for him.”

Somehow Tezuka doubted it, but he went to get it anyway. It was easier to just do, instead of questioning Niou's strange logic and his equally as strange pets. He tossed it into the trees and watched as the fox ran after it. And it didn't come back, disappearing into the forest, much like his owner had previously.

“Have you considered going back?” he asked suddenly, still looking after the fox. “It could be helpful.” He didn't know why he had broken their companionable silence with such a question – perhaps the unnaturalness of sitting there so peacefully made him uncomfortable.

Niou's smile that he'd gotten so used to seeing before he'd even realised it, vanished so quickly at his words. And Tezuka almost wished that it would come back and they could go back to talking about foxes.

But that was just the whimsy of Niou-led dreams, he told himself, he needed to focus on what he was actually doing. It was dangerous to fall into the temptation to just relax and stay here.

“I am doing helpful things here. It's just a different nature to what you normally do.” Niou snorted a bit in amusement, and Tezuka was pleased to see his mouth quirk into a small smile again. “I can't exactly stab the great libraries with swords to make them give me answers.”

“Have you tried?”

The words fell from his lips before he could stop them, though it was worth it for how Niou stared at him in shock. At least for the first few moments until it started to become uncomfortable. It was more comfortable when Niou started laughing though.

“Atobe himself is coming down from the north,” Tezuka said, more to cover up his onsetting embarrassment and to distract Niou.

“Really? So he's finally gotten sick of Jackal holding everything up?”

For some reason it pleased him that Niou wasn't aware of everything going on and he found himself wondering if Niou visited other people's dreams to get news from the outside world as well. Or was he maybe like Atobe, whom he knew watched from a distance, everything that happened like some faux omnipresent deity?

“Jackal has done a commendable job at guarding the pass.” Tezuka trailed off and Niou watched him, tilting his head to the side slightly. Jackal really had done a commendable job. Tezuka was hard pressed to think of a man within his own country who would hold up a situation like that as well, or for as long.

Oishi, perhaps, but against Atobe, he didn't know if his old friend had quite the fortitude.

“But it's going to crumble soon.”

Even if Atobe didn't take down the walls himself when he came south, they were all aware now of how Atobe could snatch men from their sleep, slowly wear down their numbers in that regard. Was it happening again tonight, he wondered?

Was use was a wall, if there were no men to defend it?

Niou was silent for a while, avoiding his gaze. “Are you scared?” he asked, his voice light as he looked at him finally.

“Not at all.”

His voice was steady, as was his gaze as they stared wordlessly at each other for a long while. There was no lie to his words, he realised with some surprise to himself as he twisted Niou's hair around his finger. And then Niou turned away with a laugh, hiding his own amusement.

“You probably should be.”

\--

They took it in turns to patrol and it was on the first round of his, looking back at the fort that Tezuka got a true glimpse at what the waves of attacks had done. There were no forces from Hyotei around that they could see, but Tezuka had instructed all of his men to keep a close eye. 

They carried unlit torches with them, ready to be lit at a moment's notice, and even though Tezuka knew that if they were attacked in large numbers as a small patrol group, having them there and knowing the flame worked somewhat, it was a small comfort.

For some reason, after the first nighttime attacks that had taken men from their beds, the forces had physically withdrawn. The weather had even pulled back with Hyotei's numbers, and as Tezuka's horse stepped over the ground, he could see the green of grass appearing underneath the quickly melting snow that gave way to the summer it was meant to be.

It anything, the sudden unexplained change had caused all three of them to be more wary and on guard than before. He was so aware of what Niou had said, of his thoughts during that dream talk with Niou. Atobe was coming south, they knew that.

Atobe himself, reminded them of that, with nighttime visits into their fort that still snatched away lives, even though staring out from the wall, there was nothing of Hyotei in sight.

All three of them knew it was just the calm before the storm. With them so close and Yanagi reporting that there was next to no defences left except what they had at the fort now, they were just biding their time before what had to be their final push into Rikkai.

But Jackal wasn't sitting idle, taking advantage of their respite to start repairs on his walls, and to fortify his weakened defences. Tezuka could see, watching the efficiency in which he targeted key areas and ordered his men around, why Jackal was indeed known as the Iron Defence of Rikkai and how he had held the pass for so long.

Under other circumstances, he might dislike the man, as someone who favoured sitting and wearing their enemies down as Jackal did, but in this current situation, Tezuka only felt fond camaraderie towards him. 

Perhaps even more encouraging was the belief Jackal seemed to have that they were actually able to push Atobe back, even if the man himself came down to face them. While Tezuka himself continued to have growing doubts, Jackal seemed to strongly believe that with Tezuka and Sanada there now, they had a chance to do more than just stall his forces.

Occasionally he found himself talking to Niou, but more and more regularly, he found his dreams with him interrupted by iced rooms and crackling fires and Atobe's silken voice in his ear. Niou didn't seem to mind too much, enjoying every moment of their time together of sneaky touches and talking about foxes.

Tezuka held up his hand as they patrolled, as he spotted someone in the distance, immediately on guard. There was no yellow flag from Rikkai amongst them, identifying as some of their own. Instead it was just a growing group of people that seemed to appear from the snow itself and approach.

Hyotei forces, then.

But before he could even draw his sword and faster than his eyes could follow, the person he could only assume was their leader leaped forward, his fingers closing around his throat and Tezuka could feel the cold press of sharp talons into the skin of his neck. They had grown from the man's fingers, he realised and Tezuka straightened a little, swallowing and feeling the claws press in just a little more.

“This is the man Atobe has us all down here for? How pathetic. You disappoint me, Tezuka.”

He knew that voice as they spoke and Tezuka tensed up. Ryou Shishido. It had been a long time since he'd laid eyes on the other man, though the long hair and attitude remained.

Shishido leaned in closer to Tezuka and he realised the man shared Atobe's perpetual coldness. Was it the same of all their men? “Maybe if I get rid of him now, we can finish up this charade.”

Tezuka gestured with his hand for his men to lower their weapons that he knew were going to be pointed at them immediately. He saw the ones he could still see, very reluctantly lower their arms, as if it was the most difficult thing they had ever done. He had to commend them for that, particularly as Shishido's smirk appeared, so similar to Atobe's the more Tezuka looked at it.

“Smart move,” Shishido said and his fingers loosened slightly, allowed Tezuka to take in a grateful deep breath of air. “I would have torn out your throat before they got to me.”

“What do you want, Shishido?” Tezuka asked. “Attack us if that's what you're here for.” He was baiting him, he knew, foolishly with the fingers still around his neck.

Shishido clicked his tongue and stepped back, distance appearing between them as the man seemed to melt back steps at a single time.

“I have a gift to deliver for you, from our esteemed leader,” Shishido said with an eyeroll as he pulled a small bag from his belt and tossed it at Tezuka. “He thought you'd like it.”

He stared at Shishido for a long while before he moved to pick it up – the man made no attempt to his hide obvious contempt for his purpose of visiting. Tezuka was cautious as he picked it up as it landed in the snow, carefully feeling the soft leather exterior before reaching in.

And he nearly dropped it again as he pulled out a very familiar tail of white hair that he could so easily remember running his fingers through as it hung down Niou's back, and being tied back so carefully after.

He almost expected for it to disappear into thin air as he held it, much like he'd come to think of Niou doing so, even though he knew that it was only the magical foxes that did that, while Niou very much remained himself and whole.

What was the purpose of it, he wondered? To show that Atobe was aware of what had happened between him and Niou? As some kind of proof that the man had gone south into the forests and found him and possibly dealt with him?

The idea made Tezuka's stomach churn as he stared down at the hair and imagined.

He found himself speechless and his fingers tightened around the bundle of hair and he felt the hair cut into his skin. What sort of reaction had Atobe wanted from him?

“Thank you for delivering the gift,” Tezuka said stiffly and he saw the twist of amusement on Shishido's mouth.

Perhaps it was that, which drove him to such impulsivity. It was foolish, he knew it, with his men surrounded on all sides by snow and the press of Hyotei forces and no doubt, Atobe was watching on as he always did. But Tezuka's hand found the hilt of his sword and he swung it out of the scabbard in a motion honed by years of practice, sweeping it across and cutting through Shishido's neck with a disturbing ease.

He saw the look of surprise on Shishido's face, forever frozen on his face as his head fell to the ground, landing in the snow. Time seemed to stretch as the shock of what had happened settled in and realisation grew from the Hyotei forces.

It had been the height of stupidity and rashness, Tezuka knew that, but he gripped his sword tighter in his hand and there was almost a perceptible breath before the Hyotei forces moved forward towards him. There was no care for the men around him, their focus was aimed entirely on him.

Was it Atobe's doing, he wondered? Or were they really that singularly minded?

It was magic, surely, that caused the flaming torch to be thrown towards him, the oil soaked cloth suddenly on fire, far brighter than it should be, the flame burning an orange that was unnatural as he swept it with his right hand towards the closest men, seeing them catch on fire with skin that surely shouldn't burn like it was, his left sword hand parrying a blow that came from the side.

His men, he could hear, were fighting, though it was surely easy pickings with enemies that weren't focused on them at all. Tezuka spun the torch and stabbed it into a body and watched it catch alight again.

Their armour was some kind of ice and metal, but they were still mortal men, despite coming from Hyotei – Tezuka knew this. And still they burned as he touched the torch to them, and he didn't stop to think why.

 _Throw it into the air_ , a voice said and Tezuka nearly didn't block a blow that came, jarring his left arm and he thrust the flaming torch in retaliation.

“What?” he shouted, not sure where the voice was coming from or if anyone else had heard it.

It was a ridiculous idea, as he had to pivot on his foot to block an attack to his back. Where were his men, he wondered and even as he did, he heard their voices to his left. They were close enough.

_Throw it into the air. Now._

The voice and the tingle in his mind as he heard it a second time were familiar enough for Tezuka to follow blindly, irrationally, tossing the flaming torch upwards. He saw the fire streak through the air before he had to focus on holding the forces off with just his sword, shifting to hold it with two hands and laying about him with long, heavy strokes.

And then there was fire everywhere, arcing down from above him and it happened all too fast, the smell of burning flesh and unworldly shrieks as they fled, leaving Tezuka's small company standing alone as they vanished into a wave of what he could only describe as frozen mist that appeared to envelop them and spirit them away.

And then they were gone and Tezuka stared after them, seeing the torch that he'd thrown so boldly into the air, on the ground now, its end blackened. He reached to pick it up, pulling away as the red hot heat from the rest of the wood seared through his gloves.

He looked up, just in time it seemed, to see the wispy outline of a chubby fox prancing through the stirred up snow, almost smugly before it vanished.

Tezuka glanced around at his men, but they didn't seem to have noticed anything, for which he was grateful. The hair Shishido had given him was gone, he realised belatedly, dropped when he had grasped the torch so tightly in his hand. And even as he looked around the ground around him, there was none to be seen.

“They won't be coming back,” Tezuka said, “At least not today.” Somehow he knew this, even though he surely couldn't know what it was Atobe was thinking in response to that. 

He reached to touch the wood again, to take back as proof to Sanada of what had happened. He had to wrap his hand in cloth before he could pick it up, but he managed. “We will return and make our report.”

–

Atobe screamed, the sound reverberating off the crystal walls of his room and he crushed the remains of the decanter beneath his feet as he paced, his fingers becoming talons as he tore apart a hanging woolen tapestry, tossing its shreds to the floor.

“What was that?!” he demanded, into the darkness in the corners of the room where he knew Oshitari had to be hiding. For wasn't he always there?

It was impossible that it had happened, that _Tezuka_ had managed to hurt and drive off his forces that he'd sent so easily. He had felt the physical pain when Shishido had been killed, when he'd felt that blade pierce the man's throat, but the feelings from that were nothing when his body had burned from the flames.

It was impossible.

He'd felt the magic, had tasted it, had been made to bleed because of it; droplets of his blood scattered across the floor where Tezuka's blade had sliced through the flesh of his forces after they'd been touched by the flame. It was different to Tezuka's innate magic, he knew that intimately enough, had felt it enough and been pushed to arousal enough by it.

This was different and he hated it.

“Answer me, Yuushi, I know you're there.” Atobe said again, and into the silence that followed, he worried for a moment that Oshitari had abandoned him now.

But there was no need to worry, as the silken voice appeared again and Oshitari followed soon after. He stepped out of an impossibly small shadow and moved to touch Atobe, his fingers seeming to not care about the hot drops of blood against his frozen skin, leaving hot trails behind him.

“It was Masaharu Niou, interfering.”

Just the name filled him with rage, knowing how Tezuka spent far too long in dreams that he couldn't touch, that he knew were from that man. And now this.

Atobe tore away from Oshitari's grasp and the ground around him froze. “I thought you took care of him. You said he wasn't going to do anything.” His voice dropped, shaking in anger and disbelief, that this... this meddling _sorcerer_ could have such an effect on him both magically and to get him into such a state as this.

And he hated it.

“He's harder to keep in line than I thought,” Oshitari said, his voice hatefully pacifying, though he made no move to touch Atobe again. “Perhaps he needs a reminder of his position.”

Atobe paused and looked at Oshitari sharply, drawing himself up a little. “From you?” There was just a raise of Oshitari's eyebrows at the question and Atobe had to stop himself from narrowing his eyes.

Again, the suspicion about Oshitari grew. That the man knew where Niou was all along, and he hadn't done anything about it. Except deal with him, supposedly, which had been ineffective, as far as Atobe had seen and felt from the burning still upon his skin.

“No. I'll do it myself.”

That was enough to make Oshitari's eyes widen, in something Atobe detachedly recognised as panic, but he was already heading for the door himself, pushing past Oshitari. He didn't stop to think about why Oshitari was panicking, nor why he was so determined to deal with this himself, why he wanted to get rid of this _scum_ who was taking Tezuka's attentions from him, just walked out the door and left his crystal palace behind.

–

Tezuka made his way through the gates into the fort, the trail of men following behind him. Sanada came to meet him, as they always did for one another and he could see the man's eyebrows drawing together at the sight of what had to be battle wounds and, as he turned to glance at his men, the spatter of blood upon their clothes and the used swords.

“What happened, brother?” Sanada asked, stopping beside Tezuka on the horse.

“We were attacked,” Tezuka said grimly and he could see Sanada glance over to his men, as though counting them, nothing but confusion showing through his taciturn expression, as he saw none were missing.

“Masaharu came to our rescue.”

If there had been surprise before, it was nothing compared to the obvious widening of Sanada's eyes and the absolute confusion shown as he tried to process it. A rare sight and under other circumstances, Tezuka might enjoy it. 

Tezuka dismounted from his horse and clapped the other man on the shoulder, handing off the reins to another man. “Let's go somewhere private and I can warm my blood and report properly.”

It took longer than he would have wanted to get into a room, a glass of whiskey in his hand. While a fire was out of the question although a liberal part of Tezuka wanted to argue that it was a cause of celebration at least and they should have a fire, the whiskey was doing just as good a job at getting his blood circulating again and burning a path of fire down his throat into his stomach.

There was no Jackal in the room with them, the man remaining on watch on the wall, keeping an eye on any possible retaliation for the attack during the patrol.

“One of Atobe's commanders was there?” Sanada asked, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees as he stared at Tezuka intently.

Perhaps he should care more, but Tezuka was enjoying resting back in the chair, the aches of the day suddenly coming to him as he sighed.

“Yes, Shishido. He was... more formidable than before.” Tezuka looked solemn for a moment. “I acted rashly and killed him. And put all our lives at danger.”

And had it not been for the unexpected rescue, Tezuka had no doubt that it would have been his head that was delivered to the fort in the morn, perhaps deposited there by one of Atobe's minions, maybe even deposited macabrely upon Sanada's bedcovers overnight.

“What was the provocation?” came Yanagi's quiet question and Tezuka looked at him in surprise – he'd almost forgotten the other man had been there. He remembered the man following them into the room, but it was always so hard to focus his attention on him, almost as though he was just always forgotten and seemed rather happy with that position in people's views of the room.

“Atobe sent me an unappreciated gift,” Tezuka said, though he refused to elaborate even as Sanada stared at him in question.

Finally Sanada sighed. “What else did he say?”

“I don't remember. I removed his head from his shoulders before he could speak anything of interest.”

Sanada seemed almost amused by that, despite what should have been disapproval at Tezuka's rashness. It was concerning, with them facing potentially a large scale attack on the fort, to know that he was so easily provoked. It wouldn't happen again, he told himself.

Sanada sighed again and looked grim, his mouth pulling into a tight line. “It is inevitable, then. Atobe will be closing in upon this pass as soon as he can. We have to be prepared.”

Tezuka paused before he shook his head. “I don't believe Atobe will.”

And even as he said that, his crazy idea seemed to make so much sense. He didn't know where it came from, the idea, but as he spoke it out loud it was so obvious. “I believe he'll go south, go after Masaharu first, and then circle back around to face us.” To face him, he thought to himself quietly.

“What makes you think that?” 

Tezuka was a little pleased that Sanada at least seemed to be taking his words seriously and considering them as he looked at the maps.

“Masaharu provoked Atobe this time and was responsible for his forces having to retreat. He won't take that lightly.” Atobe was too proud to accept that, especially from someone he seemed to want to stay in line so dearly.

“How can you be sure this isn't a situation of your own creation? We can't move from here and leave the pass open, if it's just a bluff or you've misinterpreted.”

A fair enough comment, and under other circumstances, he might think the same thing. But at the moment, he was so convinced that this idea could be nothing but correct.

“There was fire, Genichirou,” Tezuka said, holding out the wooden brand that he had been holding so close to him this entire time. It was still warm, perhaps overly hot with the remnants of magic as Sanada's hand closed around it and he could see the surprise upon his face. “That's the reason we came back alive. Atobe now knows the damage Masaharu's capable of doing, even moreso than just maintaining barriers over the country.”

“If he wants to take Rikkai, he should know he needs to take out such a large threat to his armies. Especially knowing he can appear where he wants.”

Yanagi drew himself up a little and there was a little cough from his corner before he spoke again. “Niou hasn't left his fort in a long time. He need more than just long distance magic like that to be truly effective against Atobe.”

Tezuka looked sharply at him. “How do you know Niou is in a fort? I never relayed that information to you.” And he was fairly sure he had been the only one of their number to have seen the reticent sorcerer.

Yanagi's expression shuttered, even moreso than it normally was and Tezuka narrowed his eyes at him, silently demanding an answer from him. “I received intelligence from my own sources of his whereabouts. They are currently working to move him from the fort back to the court.”

“Masaharu hasn't said anything about that...” Tezuka said carefully, watching the slight changes in Yanagi's expression, so difficult to detect.

“You talk regularly to Niou?” Yanagi asked him, looking at him with great interest suddenly.

Tezuka just stared at Yanagi evenly. “We talk enough. There's been no comment from him about other intruders in his forest.” And given how much Niou complained and commented every time about him being there... somehow Tezuka doubted that the presence of other people would go without being mentioned.

He wondered then, how Yanagi was getting those messages from the people who were there. There had been no messengers, and surely any information via that route would be weeks old and worthless now in such a time. By dream, then? What sort of people did Yanagi have at his disposal, if that was the case?

“They've been unsuccessful at reaching him thus far,” Yanagi said smoothly, but something about his voice, or the unchanging facial expression made Tezuka instinctively not trust his words to be entirely truthful. He would have to ask Niou as soon as possible. “The forest is difficult to traverse.”

“I've never had any particular difficulty with it.” Even the times that he'd gone there without Niou's knowledge, it had never been... oppressive.

He did make a note to ask Niou about it though, as he watched Yanagi closely still, seeing the strange shifting in his expression, almost as if he was struggling to keep his face at its usual impassivity.

Yanagi didn't speak again though and eventually Tezuka turned his attention back to Sanada who looked troubled by their talk before.

“I still believe Atobe will target Masaharu. We need to warn him and shift our defences.”

“No.”

Sanada's refusal now surprised him and Tezuka frowned slightly.

“I'm not leaving the country's entrance undefended like that.” Sanada held up his hand to stop Tezuka from interrupting him and Tezuka reluctantly closed his mouth agin. “I believe your suspicions,” and for that Tezuka found himself very grateful. “But Atobe still needs to pass us to get to Niou, if that's what his focus has shifted to now.”

They both remembered their conversation on the way north, then, of Atobe's original target being him.

“We'll hold our defence line here. _If_ it's breached, we'll make the call on what to do. But for now, we stay here. Agreed?”

There was no room for argument with Sanada's expression and Tezuka reluctantly nodded. 

“Very well.”

There was some restless shifting from Yanagi's corner of the room but Tezuka refused to look at him to see his sly expression and to feel troubled over it. He had more important things to focus on.

–

“Thank you for coming to our aid,” Tezuka said, as he reached out to grasp Niou's shoulder, seeing the all to smug expression on Niou's face.

It was a dream again and Tezuka should have expected it, as he fell asleep that night. It did make him wonder whether it was Niou initiating the dream meetings or... there was the crazy idea that it was himself responsible.

Either way, Niou didn't seem to particularly mind his appearance there, nor did Tezuka, he realised.

“It was worth it. I couldn't just let you be skewered by some kind of Hyotei underling, that would have been really unfortunate.” Niou was still grinning though as he said it and it was difficult to take his words too seriously.

Tezuka moved to run his fingers through the shorn hair at the back of Niou's head, running the pads of his fingers over the back of his neck and seeing Niou hunch his shoulders uncomfortably.

That just made him want to touch it more to see him squirm.

“Did Atobe cut your hair?”

Niou frowned at the question. “We met. And yes, he did.” Niou waved his hand though, and the hair reappeared, though it felt insubstantial as Tezuka touched it, the ends trailing into the wisps that were so reminiscent of the foxes.

There were no foxes around this time, the clearing they seemed to always meet in seeming much quieter and emptier without the sight of the animals around them.

“In real life or in your dreams?” He'd felt the hair as he'd held onto it and it had felt so real and as he clenched his fingers now, he could remember clearly the feeling of them cutting into his palms.

That question was greeted with a grin and Tezuka was suddenly aware that he knew nothing of magic. “Who says dreams aren't real, Kunimitsu? What defines it?”

Tezuka had no answer for that, but Niou didn't seem to be expecting one as he just smiled and sat back, leaning against Tezuka's legs.

“It was just in dreams that he cut my hair. My hair in real life is still there, he can't touch me there.” There was a touch of that overconfidence that had Tezuka biting his tongue. “I had to let him, anyway. I needed something of myself there and the hair was the easiest.”

Niou cackled to himself and tilted his head back to look up at him. “He seemed really irritated, somehow he seemed to know that you liked touching my hair.”

Tezuka looked down at him and frowned slightly. “I'm sure you made sure to tell him.” The shrug and the vague smile was enough to give him an answer and Tezuka just frowned some more. 

They fell into silence then, Tezuka's fingers automatically moving to run through Niou's hair and Niou's eyes closed, leaning back more against the steady legs behind him, and it seemed like almost a crime to have such a silent moment of enjoyment between them in such a tranquil environment so far removed from the fort and the snow and just... _something_ that Tezuka knew was drawing inexorably nearer.

“We think Atobe is coming south to meet you in person,” Tezuka said, finally breaking the silence and Niou's eyes opened into slits, gazing steadily at the spot in front of him.

“I know. I think he is too.”

“Can you hold yourself against him?” Tezuka didn't know what Niou was capable of, despite all the stories and what he'd been told. He also, if he was truthful with himself, didn't know the full extent of what Atobe was capable of.

Niou snorted and then fell quiet, his gaze becoming distant. “It's not Atobe I'm worried about. Him, I can handle.”

There was no need to ask who it was Niou worried about, he knew the answer to that already. The mysterious other man, who stood behind Atobe and none of them knew about. 

“Do you think both of them are coming?”

Niou shrugged. “Probably. I don't see why Atobe would just come by himself?”

For someone who apparently was worried, Niou seemed remarkably calm, leaning back into Tezuka more. Tezuka petted his hair some more and if he tried hard enough, he thought he could feel the edge where Niou's magic met the tips of his cut hair.

“What are you doing about it?” Was Niou doing anything at all? Or was he just planning on sitting in his forest and waiting?

“I'm getting ready, don't worry. I'll be prepared.” Niou's smile was still confident as he tilted his head back to look up at Tezuka and for a moment, he wondered exactly what it was that Atobe was going to meet when he arrived there. “You can probably notice it for yourself if you look.”

As he looked around at Niou's words, Tezuka did indeed see the forest was darker than it normally was, in all the past times he'd been there with him. The trees almost seemed closer together, as though they were forming some kind of protective shelter with Niou as its epicenter.

He wondered if the same was happening with the physical forest that surrounded Niou in the real world... and then he wondered if it mattered at all, if dreams and reality were the same thing.

“Do I need to worry about you?” Tezuka asked and he didn't know how to feel when Niou laughed a bit.

Niou finally moved, reaching his arms up to pull Tezuka down. “Atobe still wants you, right? I think you should worry about yourself more.”

–

When he met Atobe, it was on the edges of the pass, overlooking the fort where he'd seen him what seemed like a lifetime ago. Atobe seemed surprised to see him, which confused Tezuka – wasn't Atobe the one that usually pulled him into his dreams and should be expecting him?

“Are you here already, Atobe?” he asked. It was better not to show any reaction to the surprise, which vanished quickly enough anyway, settling into the usual haughty exterior Atobe showed.

“I won't be staying long.”

Tezuka looked towards the first of the outside walls of defence of the fort and saw the fingers of ice creeping up the walls and he could almost imagine as they reached the top, the wall was going to come crashing down.

Even worse though, was the swarm of men, clad in the blue and silver of Hyotei, coming towards them and Tezuka glanced at Atobe's face, the coldness of his expression and the glint of triumph that Tezuka knew all too well.

“Keigo.” _That_ got Atobe's attention on him. “This is unnecessary.”

“That sorcerer has been annoying me long enough. I'm getting rid of him. You'd do well to stay out of my way, Tezuka.”

It was such an impulsive thing to do and as he tried to figure out why he'd done it... he didn't know; but he reached out to grab Atobe by the arm, catching the man's attention.

“I'll meet you in Hyotei. Leave Rikkai alone.”

It was almost like it wasn't him talking, to be so impulsive. But it was and he didn't take the words back or let go or Atobe's arm, digging his fingers in slightly to the cold flesh, seeing the troubled look on Atobe's face.

“I'm only interested in dealing with one unimportant person in Rikkai. It's not great loss to you.”

Tezuka heard the first ominous crack of the wall and forcibly pulled himself out of the dream, his fingers clenching around thin air as he awoke. And the cracking sound was real, perhaps worse as he heard it outside. He knew what was just behind it and he threw off his sheets as he moved to dress and quickly hurry to Sanada's room down the hallway.

The door was heavy and the man was thankfully in the room, though perhaps Tezuka would have preferred it more if Sanada was awake already and on the walls of the fort. Even so, the door opening was enough to wake him up and Tezuka was inwardly pleased to see a knife appearing from nowhere in Sanada's hand as he sat up, his eyes alert and he sighed loudly as he saw Tezuka standing in the doorway.

“What is the matter?” he asked, still warily holding the knife and not quite prepared to put it down yet. There could be another enemy, Tezuka was aware, they'd received the same training after all. How many times had they awoken each other in the night to test one another?

But it wasn't important, as Tezuka's heart raced from the remnants of his conversation with Atobe in the dreamscape and he was so aware of the coolness of the air against his heated skin the drops of sweat.

“Genichirou.”

But before he could speak, there was suddenly the loud ringing of the alarm bell as someone high up on a watch tower struck it, the sound ringing through the fort. It wasn't a dream then, that there was a wave of blue and silver soldiers coming, ready to take advantage of a wall that was bound to crumble soon. Were Atobe's fingers going to follow next, to pull down the second of the ringed walls?

Sanada needed no other words, already out of bed and pulling clothes on, fast from practice and together they ran for the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

“Prepare the catapults!” Jackal shouted, his voice carrying and the order spreading through the men that wound back the great catapults that lined the wall. The ones on the outer wall were being prepared as well, though the wall was going to collapse inevitably and take them with them. “Permission to use fire requested,” he asked, turning to look at Sanada who jerked his head in assent.

Not that Sanada was likely to object.

He could see Atobe, near the front of his forces, wrapped in an icy stillness that nevertheless drew Tezuka's gaze to him. Atobe seemed to be staring up at him and although there was such distance between them still, he saw the man look away.

The catapult loads were lit, great torches thrown into their piles and they waited for Jackal's signal. It came as a shouted “FIRE” and they were loosened, all three of them watching the burning stones fly through the air, hitting Atobe's forces hard.

But there was no magical fire that caught onto their skin and armour and drove them away this time, no magical fire that arced through the air and seemed to touch everyone and they could only watch on as the catapults rained down upon them but didn't stop them.

“Where is Yanagi?” Tezuka asked, looking around as Jackal shouted more commands. “He needs to move back into the Keep.” And away from all of this when Tezuka was so unsure of his intentions. It made him feel safer to not have the man watching him from the shadows.

“Find Advisor Yanagi and tell him to find a safe room,” Sanada ordered, nodding at Tezuka as the closest man ran off, off the wall and into the Keep.

There was nothing for them to do but wait and watch and Tezuka hated it. It was a slow, inexorable wave that moved closer, slowly chipped at by the rain of fire down upon them at Jackal's command. But still they drew closer and the fingers of ice spread slowly up the walls, even as Jackal ordered boiling tar poured down upon them.

It was magic, then, and seeing Atobe's proudly tilted head from a distance, Tezuka could almost imagine the smirk that must be twisting his lips upon his face.

And then he realised, as he heard more cracking of old, solid stone that shouldn't be breaking for a long time, what was going to happen next. He saw the fingers reach the top of the wall, and he moved.

“Get away from the walls! Pull back to the second level!” Tezuka suddenly shouted and Jackal looked at him in surprise before he echoed him. The men moved, with practiced efficiency and Tezuka heard the crack as the last men were moving off the wall. And in horror, they watched the front section of the wall crumble, pulled down by Atobe's icy fingers.

Sanada's expression was a mixture of horror and anger and Tezuka saw his fingers gripping the hilt of his sword so tightly in its sheath.

How long had it been since the outer wall had been breached?

He could hear Jackal's shouts for “pull back!”, but he barely registered them as the men ran through the first circle, pulling back to the second wall. The gate had been opened as they got into position for the start of the attack and it slowly started to shut as Atob'es forces hit the crumbled wall, climbing over the remains. 

“I'm going down there, Genichirou. I can draw Atobe out and lead him away.” They both knew the breaching of the wall that had held up so long, was because of Atobe's presence there. And it changed things now.

There was so much reluctance in Sanada's expression and Tezuka loved him for it. But they both knew what had to be done, that what Tezuka was proposing was risky, but it was an idea rather than just sitting and watching Atobe pull down the second wall at his leisure. The man grasped his shoulder and Tezuka squeezed his forearm before he moved, heading down into the now breached outer ring.

With a torch in one hand and his sword in the other, Tezuka cut his way through the first group he came across, pushing them back from the second wall. There was ice following them that swiping the head of the torch across had no effect on, not that he expected any.

“Atobe, where are you?” Tezuka shouted, pulling his sword with twist and a squelch out of one body and kicking it aside. “Atobe!”

He should be near the head of the group, Tezuka knew that, if he was leading the spread of magic up the wall to take it down for all of his forces to follow him through Rikkai down to the forest. Tezuka could only imagine what they'd do to the trees of Minstrelsea to drag Niou out and he parried another blow, bringing the hilt of his sword down hard on the neck of another.

It was so easy to lose track of time, to not hear what was going on around him as he focused on one foe after another as he cut through them to find Atobe. There were other men there, he knew that, fighting in the bright livery of Rikkai and men that he knew as his own, but Tezuka barely paid them any mind, so singularly focused on his task.

He had to find Atobe.

He had to make a difference and help them hold this line.

He was so focused, he almost missed it, the sharp yip to get his attention and Tezuka looked up. There, just behind the group ahead was Niou's chubby fox, so out of place as it sat above the snow, insubstantial as ever, though just as wide.

It yipped at him again and perhaps he was dreaming as it stared at him with too bright, too intelligent eyes, its talk wagging. Tezuka wanted to laugh at it, for surely this was some kind of battle induced delusion.

It was madness, Tezuka decided, the idea that just came to him. But as he blocked another blow and he heard the cracking of the ice starting to climb the wall not too far distant, perhaps madness was his only chance.

He threw it, the torch in his hand, towards the fox and as it left his hand, the realisation of what a stupid thing he'd done occurred to him. But there was no time to waste thinking about that as he pulled out his dagger for his now freed hand, stabbing it immediately into someone's neck.

And then suddenly there was fire, catching alight the armour of the iced men around him and Tezuka could see them burning as he pushed them away and they screamed. And Tezuka could just see the burning of the flame and see the wispy, waving tail of the fox as it moved between them, too fast for his eyes to follow properly.

He didn't stop though, to try and figure out what was happening. Something was working, there was fire that was genuinely harming them and they suddenly feared, and Tezuka didn't hesitate to use it to his advantage.

The group of men were driven off with a few well placed blows and fox fire, and Tezuka took a moment to catch his breath as the remains retreated. The fox stood next to him, the torch held in its mouth, surely too heavy for it, but its tail was wagging and it looked so smugly at him in a way so reminiscent of its owner.

“You could have done that faster if you'd exercised before this,” Tezuka said reprovingly at it, but the fox didn't seem to mind too much.

Tezuka sighed and clenched his hand around the sword again. “Let's move again.”

–

Atobe found them, eventually. 

He should have expected it, even as he searched through groups for him, trying to find the epicenter of the attack. Instead it found him, Atobe appearing from nowhere in front of him. And his fire wielding companion shrank back from him, cowering behind Tezuka.

“What's that dirty animal you've got with you, Tezuka?” Atobe asked, looking down at it. There was no move to attack him, though surely he'd done enough to deserve it by now. Tezuka held his sword tightly in his hand, waiting for the suddenly strike, even as he answered.

“It's a fox.”

Atobe moved, almost teleported behind him and swiped at it with his hand and the fox vanished, though Tezuka wasn't sure whether it was by his own will or by Atobe's. The torch fell to the ground, its flame quite unremarkable now. But Atobe hissed, pulling back, his face furious as Tezuka spun around.

“Niou.”

Tezuka didn't reply but somehow he thought Atobe didn't need one. The man's fingers clenched into a fist and he wondered at the lack of control that Niou seemed to cause Atobe, so different from the composed man Tezuka usually saw in his dreams and had met before those few times.

“He's going to keep doing this to your army, Atobe,” Tezuka said and Atobe looked at him furiously. “From his place in Minstrelsea to the south.” He spoke quickly, daring not to breathe as he did, so aware of the emptiness in the area around them and Tezuka could almost believe that they were in a dream again, just the two of them, if not for the sound of the fighting he could hear nearby though he couldn't see any, his focus entirely on Atobe.

It was his only chance, he realised, to push Atobe away from this location. Sanada and Jackal could hold this position, even with the first defence wall breached, they could hold their position and maybe push them back. But only if Tezuka managed to taunt Atobe into leaving. And surely, if that other man that Niou was so afraid of wasn't there... there was nothing to worry about.

It had only been Atobe performing the magic that Tezuka could see, the other man wasn't around. They had a chance.

They could separate Atobe from his forces and the overall threat to Rikkai would be manageable.

“You can't stop him if you stay here. You'll just remain ineffective and even after abandoning his position maintaining the barriers, Masaharu would have won.”

He didn't know where the words were coming from, certainly not ones he would have dared to say out loud himself, but say them he did, his heart racing with adrenaline.

He saw, almost in slow motion, Atobe puff up, his face flushing, surely spreading warmth underneath his icy cheeks, before he turned and disappeared into a swirl of snow and ice that vanished as he did.

Tezuka ran then, winding through the streets and cutting through men that hadn't seemed to notice the disappearance of their King and leader as they continued. It was surely magic that made him run that fast, sprinting up the stairs to the top of the wall where Sanada and Jackal were, watching the scene.

“Atobe's gone south, he's broken away and left his forces,” Tezuka said and barely noticed the wide eyed looks he was receiving as he breathed heavily, clutching his side.

It took just a few moments for Sanada to pull himself together and he nodded curtly. Surely Sanada had been thinking about this as a possibility with how quickly he started issuing commands, shouting down to the men around them, entrusting Jackal to move off and follow.

Had Sanada been planning privately, waiting for the inevitable and preparing strategies for it? Had he known somehow that it was going to come to this, even as he held fast to his stance to hold their position on the wall?

It didn't seem to matter so much now.

“Go south, Kunimitsu,” Sanada said, moving past him to pull out his own sword, as though he was going to take Tezuka's place down on the battlefield. “Chase after Atobe and cut him down. Get him out of my country.”

Tezuka was almost surprised that Sanada wasn't insisting on doing it himself. And then on the other hand, he was so grateful that he wasn't insisting and allowing Tezuka to do it instead. Tezuka nodded and a further look of understanding passed between them before they parted.

“We'll have to trade stories about what happened next time we see each other, brother,” Tezuka said and he could almost believe Sanada smiled as he moved to head down to to the battlefield and Tezuka did the same.

He needed a horse and supplies; he'd travel lightly, past the one day's ride to the edge of Minstrelsea and just hope that the forest would listen to him in getting him to Niou's place further to the south. Atobe was going to be traveling with magic, what was a horse in comparison to that?

He walked swiftly towards the stables, moving the soldiers he passed out of the way, not caring what they thought he was doing.

“General Tezuka!” Yanagi called suddenly appearing and catching onto his arm and stopping him in his tracks. “You can't go, it's foolish! Let Niou take care of himself, you're needed here.”

He shoved the man away, pulling his arm free in impatience. “Genichirou is more than capable of commanding here. I don't have time for this.”

“The tide could turn at any moment.” The hand was back on his arm, Tezuka's footsteps slowed again. “It could be a bluff, you need to stay here.”

It was then that the suspicion set in – how had the man known what was going on, where Tezuka was going and why, if he had been hidden in the Keep as he was meant to have done? 

Tezuka stopped, looking at him and then he realised it wasn't the most important thing right now, it was just slowing him down. Yanagi's hand was overly cold, searing through the thick cloth on Tezuka's arm and he yanked his arm free again. He would deal with Yanagi and his suspicions properly later.

Tezuka pulled his dagger, pressing it against Yanagi's neck and stared at his eyes that were wide in shock. “I'm doing what is best. If you're afraid, continue to hide in the Keep but do not think to get in my way again. Let me pass.”

There was something frightening in Yanagi's expression as he stepped back, so reluctantly, a trickle of blood spreading down his neck from where Tezuka's knife had nicked his skin, but it didn't seem to bother the advisor at all.

Tezuka gave him one last glance before he turned and hurried away again, so aware of the staring piercing at his back as he ran away and the niggling feeling that he'd made a mistake by not dealing with this now.

He called for a horse, grabbing supplies and cleaning his sword as he went. There were men that were quick to follow his command and their questions on where he was going fell on deaf ears as Tezuka saddled up the horse quickly, pulling himself into the saddle and shouting for the south gate to be opened and closed immediately behind him.

Was he abandoning them and leaving them to their fate? Was he riding south to get reinforcements from somewhere? Tezuka couldn't answer, just shaking his head and kicking the horse forward, breaking away from the men around him.

And he left, pushing his horse fast along a path that he barely knew and wasn't marked, chasing behind a man whom he knew could travel so much faster than he could. It was madness, it was _insanity_ that he was doing this and Tezuka was well aware of it. But still he pushed the horse again, leaning over its neck as they galloped through the countryside, in a direction Tezuka guessed at but he somehow knew had to be the correct one.

There was no spread of snow south as he'd expected, following behind Atobe; perhaps, he thought, the man was in too much of a hurry to focus on spreading signs of his magic behind him. Dealing with Niou was to be a quick job before he circled back around to come to the pass. Was it something he expected to take but a few hours?

How far ahead was he?

How quickly was Atobe traveling with magic?

Was he with Niou already?

… Could Niou hold him off? He'd been confident about dealing with just Atobe himself, but somehow Tezuka couldn't bring himself to believe that so easily, having seen what the man had done.

And surely Atobe was driven by rage which could only amplify his powers.

He didn't rest, pushing his horse at the fastest pace they could go, so mindful when they slowed to a walk, of how much distance was surely growing between himself and Atobe. But there were no wispy foxes to keep him company and no magic to speed his steps or those of his horse's. He shook from the adrenaline that pumped through his body, anxiously watching the dying light of the day. 

But it was still faster to travel by himself than with a train of men behind him as last time and he saw the growing edges of the tree line as he pushed through the night, the light of the moon showing him the land ahead.

Niou had told him it was Minstrelsea because the trees sang together, like a sea of minstrels, but in the darkness of the night with only the stars and moon for light in front of him, he couldn't hear any singing from them. There was just a suffocating silence except for the sound of his horse and his own heavy breathing. 

It was a miracle that his horse tripped on nothing and that they crashed into nothing, even while rashly breaking into a gallop for the nth time that day.

Perhaps it was also a miracle that they were traveling fast, faster really than they should have been able to, if Tezuka thought about it reasonably, how fatigue didn't seem to punish them as much.

Tezuka threw himself off the horse as they were paces from the tree line, making himself take a moment to unbridle and unsaddle the horse, making sure he had everything.

It was time wasted, he knew that. And he didn't have much time.

Surely Atobe had arrived long ago.

Tezuka ran into the forest, hoping, praying to whoever that the trees would listen to him and somehow he'd find himself where he wanted to be. He didn't know how it worked, had never asked Niou how it worked. There was no fox this time either, to make it easier.

When had he grown to be so dependent on Niou's foxes, he wondered.

The path was dark, if there was a path at all and Tezuka stumbled over roots and pushed branches from his face impatiently. The northern edge of the trees were rougher than those of the south that he'd spent so much time in in his dreams and surely it was hopeless to travel like this. He was days, _weeks_ travel from where he knew Niou to be physically.

And it would be far too late then.

But then, so clearly that he almost wanted to weep in relief, the trees lightened and he stepped upon paths more familiar, as much smaller and cramped as they were than when he'd first seen them. Tezuka ran still, though he slowed down a little, his sides aching and his heart racing.

It was like his feet knew where to go, as he ran along the paths and headed towards the fort, past the clearing and into the other with the pool of water. It was iced over, he realised and felt his blood freeze as he stepped past it. There was now just the glint of cold ice instead of the sparkling waters he had come to know.

Different too was the lighting, that was normally daytime. It was still silent, and darker, though surely not as dark as it should be for the nighttime he knew it to be outside.

Thankfully, or perhaps not, there was no sign of a struggle in the clearing and he made his way to the door of the fort, still closed heavily as it always was. He'd never been inside, and he almost didn't want to go inside there now. 

He pulled his sword free, warily taking the final few steps to the entrance. He didn't know what he would find in there – Atobe dead? Niou dead?

What would happen when they faced off against each other, for surely that was what they had done? He didn't know. 

Were they upstairs? His steady footsteps on the stones of the ground were the loudest sound in there as he moved through the fort, trying to hear anything that might give him a hint. It was completely dark on the bottom floor and lifeless and it only make him more tense.

He moved up the stairs and there, at the end of the corridor was a light, finally. Tezuka made his way towards it, making his footsteps as light as possible, though the sound of them upon the stone still seemed overly loud. There were voices, murmuring that he could hear as he approached, but their words he couldn't distinguish.

The door was slightly ajar and the voices fell silent as he stopped outside the door, but there was no indication from the person – people? - inside of who it was.

His hand was shaking, he realised, as he pushed open the door, straining his muscles as he shifted the heavy weight.

… 

What did he want to find on the other side of the door? What did he want greeting him?

If he was completely honest with himself, Tezuka didn't know the answer to that question.

–

It was the aftermath, as Yanagi stepped through the forest, pushing away the branches as they moved forward to try and stop him. His hand against them was enough, searing heat through the ancient creatures, making them recoil from him in a way that Yanagi didn't care about anymore. He was too focused on getting through, he would look at what he was doing later.

The attack on the fort had failed, as they had all foreseen, even with Tezuka abandoning his post partway through. Just the thought of Tezuka leaving and the way he had left made Yanagi pause and clench his fingers together.

The man himself had ruined everything and it filled Yanagi with rage. All of his carefully laid plans had been thrown into turmoil because of him. Coming to Rikkai had been predicted, although he'd pretended otherwise to Sanada and Yukimura. 

But Tezuka becoming entangled with Niou?

That had been unexpected, for someone who normally foresaw everything and he hated it.

He dropped the topmost layer of his disguise, that of Yanagi the King's advisor and friend, dropping away at his feet to fade away into magic and he continued on.

The next of his identities had short black hair and glasses that he pushed up as he stepped neatly over a tree root and kept walking. This was Inui, the man who had stood by the side of Seigaku and pushed Tezuka north into the Higa territory patrol to first meet Atobe. That had been an unexpected infatuation, but it had been easy to manipulate, easy to force into growth once it had started.

He should have foreseen it then, perhaps, that Tezuka was a difficult person to predict. But the ease of which he'd been able to repair that damage had lulled him into compliancy.

Atobe had always been passionate and perhaps that had been the saving grace of that mess. Passionate despite trying to pretend otherwise with his cold outer shell that pushed people away as easily as he pulled Oshitari towards him.

Oshitari, who stepped out of the shell of Inui as it too fell to the ground and revealed his final self, the one who had stood by Atobe's side for so long, who had pushed him towards so much and allowed himself to be pulled into Atobe's circle of affections gladly.

Atobe who was easy to manipulate, so trusting of someone who had been his friend for so long. That had been no problem, though it had taken time to build up that relationship. It hadn't been a trial for him though, almost _enjoyable_ if Oshitari allowed himself to linger on those thoughts as he walked through the forest.

At first Tezuka too had been easy to manipulate, if unpredictable and he'd been foolish to hope he'd always remain like that. He'd managed to so easily push the man into training with Sanada in his youth to form those strong bonds between the two men that Oshitari was so pleased to note had continued throughout their lives. 

They'd both been good for each other, growing as young men together and forming such a stable relationship and bettering the other. Seeing the results of that in Sanada as he'd stood by him as Yanagi had been a pleasure and perhaps Oshitari admitted that he'd let himself get lost in that particular friendship even as he manipulated the man and bent his will to his own.

Sanada, Tezuka, Atobe... all easy people early on. Yukimura, he'd managed with.

Niou had been harder.

He'd known for a long time, he'd have to weaken Rikkai's defences, too strongly protected as they were by the circle of sorcerers for such a long time generations ago. He'd witnessed it himself, how easily the magical defences had repelled attacks, and combined with the strength of its military, the country truly was formidable.

It had taken slow, patient manipulations over generations, to place the trust of the country inside a single soul. It was stronger, he'd said, to tie it to the life and magic source of a single person. And indeed, in many ways it was, and it certainly appeared so to the people looking on.

More attacks repelled, and in the hypothetical situation in which they did fail, it would only be one person who was harmed by the magical backlash... not a whole group that they couldn't so easily replace.

He'd intended originally, a long time ago, to twist the sorcerer around his finger and to get them out of the picture, render them useless to the country. It was difficult to make the transfer of responsibilities without a death, Oshitari had made that intentionally. And so it would render the whole magical defences useless and so difficult to rebuild.

But Niou had been so unexpected and so much better. To begin with at least.

Difficult to manipulate. He'd tried, of course, but he hadn't needed to for that first step of pushing him away and getting the magical barriers to crumble.

He was so whimsical and against selling his life to the protection of a country, without any sort of input from Oshitari. For the sorcerer to vanish, all it had taken was a few carefully timed comments to fan the already budding flames, and he'd gone through with it.

Convincing him to stay in the fort hadn't been difficult either and that particular incident... it hadn't been a task he'd not enjoyed.

Of course it couldn't be that easy.

Of course Niou couldn't not interfere, however unintentionally with Oshitari's plans.

He should have pulled them away from the forest, the moment he knew Niou was close by and accessible, no matter Sanada's insistence that they stay close for their own protection. He should have blocked the dreams that Tezuka had, communicating with Niou... but he had learned about them too late and who would have thought that Tezuka of all people, would be communicating via dream with _Niou_?

Atobe, he could understand, as a man who liked to invade another's dreams and had been doing so for a lifetime. But Niou, who preferred his spirit messengers?

Unexpected too, were his own warm feelings towards Atobe, seeing him as a genuine friend instead of as someone he needed under his control to push so he could get his plans into place.

It had made it more difficult.

He disliked unexpected things, he had learned very reluctantly.

Oshitari stepped around the pond, sparkling in its water that lapped at the edges from a breeze that stirred from nowhere as he passed. There was no sign of ice in this clearing and that didn't bode well.

It had been a mess to lead them all here, to _let_ them all gather here, one had hadn't wanted to happen. He didn't know what had happened, he had no way of foreseeing what could have happened.

He knew what he wanted, what he _needed_ to happen for him to start pushing into the next stage. But it had been such a mess... surely he couldn't hope that it had worked with everything that had gone wrong.

Manipulating people and getting what he wanted had never been so difficult before, and he'd done it many times for so many years and in so many different places.

He didn't know if he hated it or enjoyed the challenge, if he was honest.

The door opened easily and there was magic around them, that he could feel and Oshitari pushed past so easily. He could taste Atobe's magic in the air, something he was so intimately familiar with. Niou's was there as well, and Oshitari frowned slightly as he stepped through the fort.

He followed the trail, of emotions, intimacy... _lust_ , he realised, and magic that hung heavy over everything like some thick smothering layer that even Oshitari couldn't push aside.

Oshitari should have expected it, having felt the emotions that spread through the fort, but he still stared as he came upon the sight: the tangle of limbs, the sweat streaked skin and his gaze lingered on Atobe's face, flushed in a way that it hadn't been for a long time, even from his visits with Tezuka.

There were hands everywhere, hot trails of lips on flushed skin and surely they should have noticed him, even cloaking himself with magic, but they were all so distracted, and for that he was thankful as he stood and watched for longer than he should have.

He wondered how it had come to this, with Niou all but plastered on top of Atobe, hands in his hair and mouth against his own and Tezuka behind them both. But he supposed he'd never know, and it wasn't so important, no matter how curious he was, for him to find out.

He laughed to himself, quietly, and turned around, stepping through the fort swiftly and shutting the door behind him, locking it with his magic.

That result worked as well, he supposed and he laughed again.

–

The country was green, in the midst of summer as Oshitari stepped onto its shores, a prosperity that spoke of a great recovery after a soiled history of war and bloodshed.

He took his time, wandering through the country, unseen by its residents that didn't stop to pay attention to him and Oshitari found he didn't mind at all.

The castle was simple, structured and it didn't take long for him to be allowed into the throne room as he finally made his way there. He looked upon the inhabitants of the throne room and nodded his head at them. 

The two leaders of the country were there together, as they always were, sharing an intimacy that Oshitari could only find himself envying slightly as he looked upon them.

“It's done. It was successful,” he said. There was no bowing, no formalities and it didn't seem important now as he stared boldly at them and they looked back at him.

“Atobe has been taken care of, Rikkai is open and defenceless... and Seigaku will follow soon with Tezuka gone. As you wanted.”

It didn't seem important to mention that Atobe and Niou were still around... they weren't going to bother them anymore, he could see that, lost in the magic of the fort as they were. Perhaps he would join them one day, when he grew tired of his manipulations and games, lose himself in the fort as well.

But for now, he was still enjoying the real world and what he could do here.

There were twin looks of joy growing on the men's faces and they turned to each other to clasp their hands together. Oshitari watched on impassively, noted down their interactions for surely it would come in use later on.

“Do you hear that?”

“It's time, Masami. Time for Yamabuki to again make advances to expand our Empire. Rikkai held us back before, but this time we'll be successful.”

There was hand squeezing and twin smiles and Oshitari had to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling as well.

“Yes, Kentarou. The whole world will be Jimi.”

–

FIN


End file.
